BS 1171 .W42 1896
Weidner, Revere Franklin,
1851-1915.
Biblical theology of the Old
T /^a i- om/^rTii-
BIBLICAL THEOLOGY
OF thp:
OLD TESTAMENT
BASED ON OEHLER.
BY
REVERE FRANKLIN WEIDNER, D. D., LL D.
Professor of Dogmatic Theology in the Chicago Lutheran Theological Seminary;
Author of "Studies in the Book^\ "Commentary on Mark", "Biblical
Theology of the New Testament", " Theological Encyclopcedia" ,
"An Introduction to Dogmatic Theology", "Netv Testament
Greek Method", "Christian Ethics", etc.
SECOND EDITION, REVISED AND ENLARGED.
FLEMING H. REVELL CO.,
NEW YORK. CHICAGO. TORONTO.
<-J
c?
Copyright 1896,
BY
REVERE FRANKLIN WEIDNER.
PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION,
Biblical Theology is one of the more recent branch-
es of Theology. Our older theologians did not dis-
tinguish between Dogmatic and Biblical Theology.
During the whole development of Church doctrine down
to the middle of the present century, no distinct line
w^as drawn between the essential contents of revela-
tion as they are laid down in the Scriptures and the
doctrinal formulas elaborated from them ; and still
less were the successive stages of revelation and the
types of doctrine which are presented in Scripture, rec-
ognized. The Bible was supposed to attest equally,
in the Old and New Testaments, the truths which the
Church has accepted as doctrines,— the Old Testament
being used in all its parts, just like the New Testa-
ment, for proofs of doctrine.
But our modern theologians maintain that the Old
and New Testament stand to each other in the rela-
tion of preparation and fulfilment,— that their unity
must not be understood as identify,— that the Old
Testament itself acknowledges that the manifestation
of God's kingdom at that time was imperfect and
temporary,— that still more distinctly does the New
Testament emphasize the difference from the Old which
subsists within the unitv of the two Testaments,—
IV PREFACic.
that the eternal counsel of salvation, although an-
nounced by the prophets, is nevertheles^not complete-
ly revealed till after its actual realization,— that the
tuition of the law reached its goal in the grace and
truth of Christ,— that the unity of the Old and New
Testament must not be conceived of as an identitj^ of
doctrine, but as a gradually advancing process of
development of doctrine,— that in setting forth the
doctrines of the Bible systematically we must recog-
nize the general development which revelation passes
through in Scripture itself, —and that the old atomistic
system of Scripture proof must be superseded by one
which shows that the truths of salvation formulated
in doctrinal statements are the result of the whole
process through which revelation has passed.
We distinguish, therefore, between Biblical Theology
and Systematic Theology. For Christian Dogmatics
or Systematic Theology is a historico-philosophical
science, in which the results of historical exegesis are
unified and systematized. It is the sum of the truths
embraced in the Christian faith in their organic con-
nection ^dth the facts of religious consciousness. Bib-
lical Theology, on the other hand, has for its aim to
represent the religious ideas and doctrines which are
contained in the Bible, and is a purely historical dis-
ciphne. Systematic Theology takes the results of
Biblical Theology for granted, and works with them
as its material. Some even go so far as to distinguish
between Bibhcal Theology and Bibhcal Dogmatics, in
PREFACE. V
which the former has to do with the variety of bibU-
cal forms of teaching, and the latter with the examina-
tion of the doctrines and ideas of the sacred writers
which BibUcal Theology brings out and with their
presentation in a systematic form. According to this
view, Christian Dogmatics or Systematic Theology
must be based upon Biblical Dogmatics, which again
must be based upon the results of Biblical Theology.
Of late Systematic Theology has been somewhat
neglected in certain parts of the Protestant w^orld,
and indeed has fallen into disrepute, more stress being
laid upon the results of Biblical Theology. We are
told that in Systematic Theology we have the deduc-
tions and speculations of men while in Biblical The-
ology we have the pure teaching of the Word of God.
But let us not forget that the man who takes up the
Bible now without reference to what has been done
towards its elucidation in the past, and without being
guided by the development of doctrine, is exactly as
foolish as the man who w^ould undertake to take up
any branch of science without regard to what has
been done before.
Biblical Theology naturally divides itself into that
of the Old Testament and that of the New, and there
is no discipline of theological science which is more
important, and on which more depends. Our aim, in
this work, is to present in a concise and still full form
the Theology of the Old Testament. No one can pre-
sent such a theology in its fullness and scientific preci-
PREFACE.
sion unless he has repeatedly gone over all the Books
of the Old Testament with this special object in view.
It implies a critical and exegetical study of the Hebrew
original, and the results of such close exegetical stud}^
would onl}^ take their proper shape after years of
study. Though the writer for the last twelve years
has paid especial attention to thestudy of the Hebrew
Scriptures, and has studied in course, all the books of
the Old Testament, and has had the great privilege of
lecturing on the most important of them during the
last four years to his theological classes, and has dur-
ing all this time been accumulating material, still
when the question arose of presenting the Theology
of the Old Testament in a scientific form, the writer
deemed it best to rewrite the work of the Master of
this branch of Theology, hoping in this way to con-
tribute most to a more exact knowlege of the doctrines
of the Old Testament.
Since the first appearance of "The Theology of the Old
Testament" hj Gustav Friedrich Oehler in 1873, it has de-
servedly been regarded as the most important work
on this subject, and it is a question whether it ever
will be superseded. The author had especial gifts and
qualifications for this branch of theology, and his
rank as an expositor of the Old Testament is very
high. For thirty years he lectured on this subject,
and almost every topic presented in his system has
been most elaborately treated by him in the first edi-
tion of Horzog's Real'Encyklopcedie (1854-1868), and
PREFACE. VII
of such excellence were these articles that they have
been retained, Avith scarcely any changes, in the second
edition of this work. In his Theology of the Old Testa-
ment Oehler incorporated the latest results of his re-
searches and those who have repeatedly studied his
work are surprised at his erudition and the exegetical
skill that he displays. To a large extent this book
takes the place of a critical commentary. For several
years the writer has used this work as a text-book in
his class-room, and has learned to appreciate its great
merits. But there are serious objections to its use as
a text-book, especially on account of its fulness of
treatment, as the work is better adapted for a book
of reference for the scholar and pastor.
The attempt, therefore, has been made to reproduce
this valuable work for use in the class-room, and for
private students. It is an abridgment, and yet it is
more. It aims at condensation, and yet seeks to give
all that is of importance in Oehler's original work.
Those who have had any experience in work of this
kind know how difficult it is to condense and reproduce
without omitting what is important. We would call
special attention to the scripture references. The
plan has been, after careful study of all the passages
cited by Oehler, to select the most important, and
these references are made to conform to the English
Version. We have made constant use of the excellent
edition published by Funk and Wagnalls, under the
editorial supervision of Dr. Day of Yale Divinity
Vill PREFACE.
School, and take this occasion of recommending this
edition which is superior to the Edinburgh edition
(save in typography, the type being smaller), and in
several respects even to be preferred to the original
second edition of the German.
As is well-known, in such a large field of research,
where the task is so great and difficult, there will be
differences of opinion as to the interpretation of diffi-
cult passages. Even our most conservative theolog-
ians reach different results. And although Oehler
represents the most conservative tendency of the Lu-
theran Theology of Germany, still there are various
points on which the writer differs with him. In all
such cases Oehler's views are distinctly stated, but
the position of the writer is also indicated. But in
almost all cases Oehler has been allowed to speak for
the ^mter, so that what is here presented is the view
that the writer himself holds of the truths as present-
ed in the Old Testament.
R. F. W.
Ascension Day, June 3, 1886.
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION,
For several years this abridged reproduction of
Oehler's Theology of the Old Testament has been out of
print, as no time could be found for a careful revision.
A renewed study of the whole subject during the last
few years has only deepened the conviction of the
writer that no new light pertaining to the true the-
ological meaning of the Old Testament can come from
the new theories, or so called discoveries, emerging
from the fertile minds of our negative Old Testament
critics. On the appearance of the first edition of this
work inquiries were made why more attention had
not been paid to the results obtained by the literary
analysis of the Old Testament. The answer then as
now is simply thi-s— these theories have not been estab-
lished, they are in fact nothing but speculations. We
grant that there has been a most remarkable display
of minute scholarship on the part of these critics, in
the discussion of words and phrases in which they
have often lost themselves,— but after all, the most of
it is mere fanciful conceit. A scientific presentation of
their marvelously compHcated theories, divergent as
they are, is to most thoughtful persons, a sufficient
answer, and a demonstration of their falsity. It is
2 PEEFACE.
positively refreshing to read some of the works of
these critics and to come in contact with such posi-
tiveness of assertion and self-confidence in dissecting
passages and books, the like of which has never been
equalled in the whole realm of literary criticism. In
nearly all cases their an alysis is subjective and opinion-
ated and rests upon certain preconceived views which
have no settled and sure basis. For several years this
negative school has been making rapid progress, but
the tide of battle is turning in Germany, in England,
and in this country. We need but refer to the labors
of Zahn, Rupprecht, and the writers in the Beweis cfes
Glaubens, in Germany, — ^to the works of Cave, Douglas,
Ellicott, Girdlestone, Leathes, Sayce, and Lias, in
Great Britain,— and to the writings of Green, in this
country.
We, therefore, still maintain tha^t Oehler's Biblical
Theology, the third German edition of which appeared
in 1891, has not been superseded, and that what w^e
said concerning it in the preface to the first edition of
this present work, still holds true. In this second
edition we have aimed to make this abridgment still
more serviceable to students by a careful revision of
the whole, and by appending an analysis to each sec-
tion, thus also conforming it to my Biblical Theology of
the New Testament. In the Appendix we have aimed to
give the best select literature of the subject up to date.
The analytical Index has been newly prepared and
much enlarged, and can be also used by students in
PREFACE. 3
reviewing for examination. I am greatly indebted to
the Rev. R. Morris Smith for the care with which he
has read the final proof-sheets.
R, F. W.
CHICAGO LUTHEBAN THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY.
Reformation Day, Oct. 31, 1836.
CONTENTS.
INTRODUCTION.
Bection. Page,
1. Summary of the Introduction 17
2. Definition of Old Testament Theology 17
3. Relation to other Old Testament Branches 18
4. Sources of Old Testament Theology 21
5. Old Testament Theology considered from a Christian
Theological Standpoint 22
6. The Biblical Idea of Revelation 23
7. The Gradual Progress of Revelation 24
8. The Relation between the Old and New Testaments... 25
9. How the Early Church and the Middle Ages regarded
the Old Testament 26
aO. The View held in the Age of the Reformation 27
'11. The View held by the Older Protestant Theologians. . . 28
12. The View held during the Eighteenth Century 29
13. Rise of a Biblical Theology distinct from Dogmatic... 30
14. Theological View of the Old Testament in recent Lit-
erature 30
15. Characteristics of the Historico-Genetic Method 32
16. Divisions of Old Testament Theology 33
PART I.
MOSAISM.
SECTION I.
THE HISTORY OF REVELATION FROM THE CREATION TO THE OCCUPA-
TION OF CANAAN.
17. Division of this History 37
CHAPTER I.
THE PRIMEVAL AGE.
13. The Account of the Creation 37
19. The Origin of Evil 39
20. The First Offering 40
) CONTENTS.
CHAPTER II.
THE SECOND AGE OF THE WORLD.
21. Covenant with the World 43
22. The Foundation of a People of God 45
CHAPTER III.
THE TIME OF THE PATEIARCHS.
23. Abraham 47 .
24. Isaac and Jacob 5(| r
25. The Twelve Patriarchs 53/
CHAPTER IV. K
THE TIME OF MOSES AND JOSHUA.
26. Condition of Israel in Egypt 5<B
27. The Course of Deliverance from Egypt 54
28. Educational Aim of the March through the Wilderness 55
29. From Egypt to Canaan 56
30. The Wandering in the Wilderness 57
31. Moses and the Book of Deuteronomy 58
32. Occupation of Canaan 60
33. The Promised Land 6(
SECTION II.
THE DOCTRINES OF MOSAISM.
34. Survey 62
CHAPTER y.
THE MOSAIC DOCTRINE OF GOD. /
35. Survey 63
36. The most General Names of the Divine Being 63
37. El-Shaddai 66
38. Pronunciation and Explanation of the name Jehovah 6C
39. Signification of the Name 67
40. Age and Origin of the Name 37
41. Comparison of the name Jehovah with Elohim and El 68
42. Attributes of God which are derived immediately from
the Idea of Jehovah 69
43. The Unity of God 70
44. Formal Definition of God as the Holy One 71
45. Fuller definition of the Idea 73
46. Characteristics connected with the Divine Holiness :
Impossibilitv of Picturing God, Omnipresence, Spiritu-
ality 73
CONTENTS. i
47. The Divine Eighteousness, Faithfulness, and Truth.... 75
48. The Jealous God 76
CHAPTER VI.
THE MOSAIC DOCTRINE OF THE CREATION AND PRESERVATION OF THE
WORLD.
49. General Survey '^8
50. Creation by the Word 78
51. The Divine Spirit in the Creation 79
52. On the Preservation of the World 80
CHAPTER VII.
THE MOSAIC DOCTRINE OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE.
53. The Design of Creation and its Realization through
Providence 82
54. Relation of the Divine Causality to Moral and Phys-
ical Evil 83
CHAPTER VIII.
THE MOSAIC DOCTRINE OF REVELATION.
r 55. General View 85
56. The Revelation of the Divine Name 85
57. The Revelation of the Divine Countenance and the Di-
vine Glory 86
58. The Divine Voice as a form of Revelation 87
59. The Doctrine of the Angel of the Lord exegetically
stated 88
60. The different Interpretations 89
61. Other points of the Mosaic Angelology 91
62. The Shekhina 92
.; 63. The Doctrine of Miracle 93
64. More exact Definition of Miracle 94
- 65. On the Spirit of God 94
66. The Psychical States of the Organs of Revelation 96
CHAPTER IX.
'THE MOSAIC DOCTRINE OF THE NATURE OF MAN IN ITS MAIN
UNCHANGEABLE FEATURES.
67. General View 98
68. TheldeaofMan 98
69. Man in Relation to Sex and Race 99
70. Body, Soul, and Spirit as the Constituent Parts of Man 101
71. The Heart and its Relation to the Soul 10^
I
^ CONTENTS. i
CHAPTER X. '
THE ^lOSAIC DOCTRINE OF MAN WITH REFERENCE TO SIN.
72. The Primitive State of Man 105
73. The Formal Principle of Sin 106
74. The Material Principle of Sin 107
75. Sin as an Inclination and State 108
76. Degrees of Sin 109
CHAPTER XI.
THE MOSAIC DOCTRINE OF DEATH AND THE STATE AFTER DEATH, j
77. The Connection between Sin and Death 112
78. The Doctrine of Mosaism on the Condition after Death 118
79. The Condition of the Soul in Sheol 115
SECTION III.
THE ORDINANCES OF MOSAISM.
80. The Nature of the Covenant 117
CHAPTER XII.
THE DIVINE ELECTION
81 . Israel's Election as the Free Act of God's Love 118
82. Forms in which the Election of the People is expressed 118
CHAPTER XIII.
man's OBLIGATION.
83. The Servant of Jehovah 121
81. The Law 122
85. The Decalogue 123
86. The Division of the Decalogue 125
87. The Historical Origin of Circumcision 126
88. Religious Import of Circumcision 126
CHAPTER XIV.
DIVINE RETRIBUTION.
89. Blessing and Curse 128
90. Apparent Contradiction between Divine Election and
the Doctrine of Retribution 129
SECTION IV.
THE THEOCRACY.
91. The Idea of the Divine Kingship 130
CHAPTER XV.
THEOCRATIC ORGANIZATION OF THE PEOPLE.
02. The Division into Tribes 131
CONTENTS. 9
93. The Mode and Meaning of the Representation oflsrael
by theLevites 132
94. Official Functions and Social Position of the Levites.. 133
95. The Priesthood 134
96. The High Priest 136
CHAPTER XVI.
THE THEOCRATIC AUTHORITY.
97. The Legislative Authority 139
98. The Principle and Organization of the Administration
of Justice 140
99. The Course of Justice and Punishment 141
100. The Executive Power 142
CHAPTER XVn.
THE ORGANIZATION OF THE FAMILY.
101. The Subdivisions of the Tribes 144
102. The Law of the Marriage Contract 144
103. Bars to Marriage 145
104. The Dissolution of Marriage 146
105. The Relation of Parents to Children 147
106. The Law of Inheritance 148
107. Provisions concerning the Preservation of the Family
Inheritance 149
108. The Avenging of Blood 150
109. Bondage in the Time of the Patriarchs 151
110. The Regulations concerning Hebrew Servants 152
111. The Position of Servants not Israelites 152
SECTION V.
THE MOSAIC PUBLIC WORSHIP.
112. The Essential Character of Public Worship 154
113. The Place of the Word in Public Worship 155
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE PLACE OF WORSHIP.
114. The Requisites for a Place of Worship 157
115. The Arrangement of the Mosaic Sanctuary 158
116. The Meaning of the Sanctuary 159
117. The Sacred Vessels in the Court and in the Sanctuary 160
118. The Ark of the Covenant, with the Kapporeth and the
Tables of the Law 162
119. The Cherubim, 163
10 CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XIX.
THE ACTIONS OF THE MOSAIC WORSHIP.
120. On the Idea of OfiferiDgs in General 165
121. Pre-Mosaic Sacrifice and the Mosaic Covenant Sacrifice 165
122. Bloody and Bloodless Offerings 167
123. The Material of Animal Offerings 168
124. The Ingredients of the Vegetable Offerings 168
125. The Principle on which the Material of Offerings was
fixed 169
126. The Ritual of Animal Sacrifice 171
127. The Use made of the Shed Blood 172
128. The Burning of the Offering 174
129. The Ritual of the Food-Offering 175
130. Various kinds of Offerings with reference to their Pur-
pose 176
131. The Burnt-Offering 176
132. The Peace-Offering 177
1.33. The Ritual of the Peace-Offering 178
134. Of Vows 180
135. Nazaritism 181
136. The Theocratic Taxes 183
137. The Difference between the Trespass-Offering and the
Sin-Offering with respect to the End in View 184
138. The Ritual and Import of the Trespass-Offering 185
139. The Ritual of the Sin-Offering 185
140. The RitualoftheDay of Atonement 188
141. Signification of the Ritual and the Antiquity of the
Day of Atonement 191
142. The Levitical Purifications 193
143. Acts of Purification for removing the Suspicion of Guilt 194
CHAPTER XX.
THE SACRED SEASONS.
144. Survey of the Sacred Seasons and their Designations.. 196
145. Reasons which determine the Times of the Feasts 197
146. The Celebration of the Holy Days 197
147. The Antiquity and Origin of the Sabbath 198
148. The Idea of the Sabbath , 199
149. The Celebration of the Sabbath 200
150. The New Moon Sabbath 202
151. The Sabbatical Year and the Year of Jubilee ,, 201
CONTENTS. 11
152. Import and Practicability of these Institutions 203
153. The Passover 204
154. Significance of the Feast of the Passover 205
155. The Feast of Weeks 207
156. The Feast of Tabernacles... 207
PAKT II.
Prophetism.
SECTION I.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE THEOCRACY FROM THE DEATH OF JOSHUA
TO THE CLOSE OF THE OLD TESTAMEN'^' REVELATION.
CHAPTER I.
THE TIMES OF THE JUDGES
157. Course of Events. Import of the Office of Judge 211
158. Decline of the Theocratic Institutions 212
159. Religious Syncretism of this Period 214
CHAPTER II.
FOUNDATION OF THE MONARCHY.
160. The Philistine Oppression. Samuel 216
161. Nature, Importance, and first Beginnings of the Pro-
phetic Office , 217
162. The so-called Schools of the Prophets 219
163. The Foundation of the Israelitish Kingdom 220
CHAPTER III.
PERIOD OF THE UNDIVIDED KINGDOM.
164. Saul 221
165. David 221
166. The Form of Worship under David 223
167. Solomon. The Building of the Temple 225
168. Significance and Dedication of the Temple 226
169. Hebrew Proverbial Poetry 227
170. Solomon's External Organizations 228
CHAPTER lY.
THE KINGDOM OF THE TEN TRIBES.
171. Preliminary Remarks 230
172. Jeroboam I. to Omri 230
173. The Dynasty of Omri 232
12 CONTENTS.
174. The Prophetism of the Period. The Rechabites 233
175. The Dynasty of Jehu 234
176. From Zachariah to the Captivity of the Ten Tribes 235
177. Origin of the Samaritans 237
CHAPTPJR V.
THE KINGDOM OF JUDAH.
178. Preliminary Remarks and Survey 239
179. Rehoboam to Jehosaphat , 240
180. Jehoram to Jotham 240
181. Ahaz and Hezekiah 241
182. Manasseh and Amon 243
183. Josiah 243
184. Profane History of this Period 244
185. Jehoiakim and Jehoiachin 244
186. Zedekiah. Fall of Jerusalem 246
187. Gedaliah and the Remnant of the People 247
CHAPTER VI.
THE EXILIC AND POST-EXILIC HISTORY OF THE JEWS.
188. Condition of the People during the Captivity 248
189. Return of the Jews from Babylon 249
190. The Period from Cyrus to Darius Hystaspes 250
191. The Jews under Xerxes 251
192. Ezra and Nehemiah. The Close of Prophecy 251
193. The Scribes. Public Worship 252
SECTION II.
THE THEOLOGY OF PROPHETISM.
194. Summary 254
CHAPTER VII.
THE DOCTRINE OF THE LORD OF HOSTS AND OF ANGELS.
195. The Meaning of Jehovah Sabaoth 254
196. The Host of Heaven 256
197. The Host of the Heavenly Spirits 256
198. The Significance of the Doctrine of Jehovah Sabaoth.. 258
199. Angels of Higher Order and their Special Calling 258
200. The Doctrine of Satan 260
CHAPTER VIII.
man's RELIGIOUS AND MORAL RELATION TO GOD.
201. Distinction between the Ceremonial and the Moral Law 264
202. The Ruinous Nature of Sin 265
CONTENTS. l;] -
203. The Old Testament Form of Faitb 2G7
204. The Old Testament Exxjerience of Salvation 2G8
SECTION III.
OF PROPHECY.
CHAPTER IX.
THE PROPHETIC CONSCIOUSNESS.
205. Negative Propositions 270
206. Positive Propositions 270
207. Psychological Definition of the Prophetic State in An-
cient Times 272
208. View of this Subject in the Older Protestant Theology 273
209. Continuity and Elevation of the Individual Life in the
Prophetic State 275
210. Prophecy an Inward Intuition 276
211. The Prophetic State illustrated by Analogies 278
212. The Conceptions of Genius and the Natural Powers of
Divination 279
CHAPTER X
OF PROPHECY.
213. Its Office in General 281
214. The Prediction of Particular Events an Essential Ele-
ment of Prophecy 281
215. The Peculiarities of Old Testament Prophecy 282
216. Prophecy and Fulfiment 284
SECTION IV.
OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD.
217. Survey 288
CHAPTER XI.
THE PURPOSE OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD
218. The Design of God's Kingdom 288
219. The Relation of the Present to God's Purpose 290
220. The Judgment upon the Covenant People 290
221. The Judgment upon the Heathen Nations 292
CHAPTER XII.
THE DELIVERANCE AND RESTORATION OF THE COVENANT PEOPLE.
222. The Restoration of Israel a Necessary Event 295
223. The New Covenant an Everlasting One 29G
14 CONTENTS.
224. other Features of the Times of Eedemption 298
225. Death destroyed 299
226. The Kesurreetion 300
CHAPTER XIII.
THE ADMISSION OF THE HEATHEN INTO THE KINGDOM OF GOD.
227. The Extension of the Kingdom of God in the Times of
Redemption ." 302
228. The Conditions under which the Heathen are admit-
ted into the Kingdom of God 303
CHAPTER XIY.
THE MESSIAH.
229. The Messianic Hope 305
230. The Messianic Psalms 306
231. The Development of the Idea of the Messiah in the
Prophets 307
232. The Office and Work of the Messiah 309
233. The Servant of Jehovah 310
234. The Messiah is the Atoning High Priest 312
PART III.
Old Testament Wisdom.
235. The Nature of Old Testament Wisdom 315
236. The Contents of Old Testament Wisdom 316
CHAPTER I.
OBJECTIVE DIVINE WISDOM.
237. The Personification of Wisdom 318
238. The Old Testament View of Nature 319
239. The Control of Wisdom in Human Affairs 319
CHAPTER II.
SUBJECTIVE HUMAN WISDOM.
240. The Fear of the Lord the Subjective Principle of Wis-
dom 321
241. Practical Wisdom 322
242. The Ethics of the Proverbs 322
CHAPTER III.
MORAL GOOD.
243. Its Realization in the Individual Life 324
244. Realization of Moral Good in the various Social Spheres 325
CONTENTS. 15
CHAPTER IV.
THE ENIGMAS OF HUMAN LIFE.
245. The Enigmas themselves 327
246. The Struggle to solve the Enigmas relating to this
Subject in the Psalms 327
247. Solution of the Enigmas in the Book of Job 329
248. The Doctrine of Immortality in the Book of Job 331
CHAPTER V.
THE SOLUTION ATTEMPTED INtHE BOOK OF ECCLESIASTES.
249. Standpoint of the Book of Ecclesiastes 333
250. Moral Teaching of the Book 334
Select Literature 336
Index 345
BIBLICAL THEOLOGY
OF THE
OLD TESTAMENT.
INTRODUCTION.
§ 1. Summary of the Introduction.
The Introduction has for its aim
1) To define the Theology of the Old Testament,
and its relation to the cognate branches of Biblical
Science ;
2) To present the conception of the Old Testament
religion presupposed in our exhibition of the subject,
together with the scientific standpoint of Old Testa
ment Theology therebj^ given ;
3) To present a brief history of this branch of the-
ology;
4) To discuss the method of Old Testament Theol-
ogy, and present its divisions.
§ 2. Definition of Old Testament Theology.
Biblical Theology^ of the Old Testament has for its
task the historical exhibition of the religion contained
1 "To the term 'Biblical Theology' we do not attach any special
importance. It has become current through the works of Gabler,
Schraid, and Oehler, and it seems to us decidedly preferable to the
other term, 'Biblical Dogmatics', which De Wette and Hagenbach
defend." (Schultz, p. 3.)
18 INTRODUCTION.
in the canonical books of the Old Testament, accord-
ing to its progressive development and the variety of
the forms in which it appears. It cannot, therefore,
limit itself to the directly didactic matter in the Old
Testament, but must also embrace the chief features
of the history of the divine kingdom in the Old Testa-
ment. It has to handle as such whai is only in germ,
and to show how the Old Testament, in the narrow-
ness and unfinished state which characterizes in
many parts its doctrinal contents, points from itself
to something higher.
Schultz defines Biblical theology as "that branch of
theological science which gives a historical presenta-
tion of revealed religion during the period of its
growth."
[Analysis: 1) Aim of the science ; 2) definition of Schultz; 3) is a
historical science ; 4) revelation is progressive.]
§ 3. Relation to other Old Testament Branches.
1) The study of what is called Introduction to the Old
Testament precedes the study of Old Testament Theol-
ogy, but the two stand to each other in a relation of
mutual dependence. To the former science we leave
all critical investigations as to the authenticity,
authorship, and integrity, of the Old Testament
writings. 1
1 Oehler: "If a critic takes a view^ of revelation which is far
from harmonious with the biblical one, and devises a scheme of
sacred history which the history itself does not acknowledge, he
will from these presuppositions judge of the time when these
books originated, and of other things quite differently from what
they themselves testify. ... If the Bible is the record of Revelation,
and if it is only through the Bible that the theologian receives
the impression of the majesty of revelation as a mighty historical
fact we should expect of him that, before he criticises the Bible,
he should first surrender himself to its contents without precon-
ceived opinions — should let the revelation in its majesty work
directly upon him, in order, as Rothe (Zur Dogmatik, p. 329) strik-
ingly expresses it, 'to make it a constant factor in the experience
of his personal life.' He who has won in this way the conviction
RELATION TO OLD TESTAMENT BRANCHES. 19
2) Old Testament Theology has a part of its con-
tents in common with Biblical ArchcBology, which latter
treats of the \vhole natural and social condition of
the people of Israel. The discussion of ail purely
technical questions, however, must be left to Archse-
ology, and even in those topics which are common—
the field of morals and of public worship,— there must
be a treatment differing not merely in fulness, but in
some measure also in form. On all such matters
Biblical Theology has simply to take from Archseol-
ogy its results as accepted facts.
3) There is a close relation between Old Testament
Theology and Israelitish History, and yet the two branch-
es are entirely distinct. Old Testament Theology is bound
to reproduce faithfully, and without admixture of
modern ways of looking at history, the view which
the holy Scriptures themselves give of the purpose of
salvation which is carried out in Israel.^ The History
that Holy Scripture is the truly witnessing record of the divine
purpose of salvation, and of the historical facts which serve to
its realization, — in the joyful consciousness ol his faith in revela-
tion, will certainly refuse to be bound by human traditions con-
cerning Holy Scripture, w^hether these originated with the Jewish
Scribes, or with the ancient church, or with our older Protestant
theology, whatever be the respect which he may feel due to them;
but neither will he surrender himself to a criticism in which he can
everywhere see that it does not rest upon the consciousness of
faith which Rothe commends."
1 Oehler: "The history of Israel contains a series of facts which
form the basis of the Old Testament religion. If we deny the
Exodus of Israel from Egypt, and the giving of the law from Sinai,
the Old Testament religion floats in the air. Such facts can no
more be separated from the religion of the Old Testament than
the historical facts of Christ's person from Christianity Here
there must be .strife between those who acknowiege as facts what
the Old Testament lays down as such, and are consequently con-
vinced that the thing believed w^as also a thing which took place,
and between those who see in the Old Testament faith mainly a
product of religious ideas, the historical basis of which can be
ascertained only by a critical process resting on rationalistic pre-
suppositions Whoever occupies the historico-critical stand-
point on this subject should endeavor to get at the point of view
20 INTRODUCTION.
of Israel, on the other hand, has not only to present
all sides of the historical development of the people of
Israel, but to sift and vindicate, by historico-critical
research, the real historical facts which the Theology
of the Old Testament reproduces as the contents of
faith.
4) Biblical Theology has of necessity a close con-
nection with the Exegesis of Scripture. As a necessary
preliminary to our science, one must study the ex-
pository works which deal with the doctrinal ideas
of specially important single books or groups of
books. Taken along Avith the works which trace
single doctrines through all the different Biblical
books, such writings would, if complete, provide us
with almost all the material we require. We should
then have the war]:) and the woof, out of which we
could without much trouble weave the web of Biblical
Theology.^
5) This science has also a close connection with
Systematic Theology (which includes the three sciences
of A]3ologetics, Dogmatics, and Ethics), for it pro-
vides a form of Scripture proof on a larger scale than
can be got from single texts. But Biblical Theology
is distinct in form and contents from S^^stematic The-
ology.^ It is the historical counterpart of Dogmatics
oi the Bible itself in its purity, without admixture of modern
views No criticism has as yet robbed of its force the judg-
ment of Herder respecting the history of the Old Testament: 'A
thing of that kind cannot be invented; such history, with all
that depends on it, and all that is connected with it— in short,
Buch a people cannot be a fiction. Its yet uncompleted providen-
tial guidance is the greatest poem of the ages, and advances
probably (we say certainly, on the ground of Rom. 11: 25, 26) to
the solution of the mysterious riddle of the world's history.' "
1 SeeSchultz: p. 4.
2 Schultz: "No result of 0. T. Theology can become a constitu-
ent part of Systematic Theology till its further development in
Christianity has been recognized, in other words, except through
the medium of N.T. Theology,— for there is not a single Christian
SOURCES OF OLD TESTAMENT THEOLOGY. 21
and Ethics, not their substitute, and precedes the
study of Dogmatics. We may also add that Dog-
matic Theology should balance and correct Biblical
Theology, first, because the latter, as a rule, is based
only upon certain parts of Scripture, and its method
is fractional, and secondly, because it is more easy
to introduce subjective individual opinions into a
part of the Bible, than into the whole of it.^
6) Biblical Theology, therefore, lies wholly within
the circle of historical theology and has a well-defined
province of its own, and is one of the most indispens-
able branches of theological science.
7) As Old Testament Theology must report what
men in the Old Testament believed, in what faith they
lived and died, as it has to exhibit the history of rev-
elation and to reproduce the view which Holy Script-
ure itself has, we have nothing to do with ethnological
and geographical research, and with attempts of
harmonizing the Old Testament history of creation
and other things of this kind with the propositions
of the newer physical sciences.
[Analysis: 1) Its relation to Biblical Introduction; 2) the true
Biblical critic; 3) its relation to Biblical Archaeology; 4) to Sa-
cred History; .5) Negative Higher Criticism; 6) Biblical Theology
closely related to Exegesis; 7) to Systematic Theology; 8) is a
historical science; 9) does not aim to reconcile science and the-
ology.]
§ 4. Sources of Old Testament Theology.
These sources must be limited to the books of the
0/d Testament Canon as received by the Scribes in
Palestine, acknowledged by the Protestant Church,
thus excluding the Old Testament Apocrypha. That
the Canon of the Protestant Church is that of the
conception but has its roots in the O. T., and which Christianity
does not set in a new light,— and not till then is it rendered per-
fect (p. 6).
1 See Weidner, Introduction to Dogmatic Theology. 2nd ed., p. 37,
22 INTRODUCTION.
Judaism of Palestine, as established in the last centu-
ry before Christ, and then re-sanctioned after tempor-
ary hesitation at the Sanhedrim in Jamnia about a. d.
90, is not disputed. According to the declarations of
Christ in Luke 24: 44; Matt. 11: 13, 14, and the whole
Apostolic doctrine, there can remain no doubt as to
where the Old and New Testaments are connected,
since even the beginning of the New Testament history
of revelation attaches itself directh' to the close of Old
Testament prophecy in Malachi (Matt. 11: 13,^ 14).
[Analysis: 1) The Old Testament the only source; 2) the Protes-
tant Church accepts the Canon of the Jevrs.]
§ 5. Old Testament Theology considered from a Ch»'istian
theological standpoint.
The view we have of the Theology of the Old Testa-
ment is already expressed in the name we give to this
branch of theology, for we will not treat simply of the
( Jewish religion, but of the divine revelation of the Old
Testament, which on the one hand is fundamentally
different from all heathen religions, and on the other
forms the preliminary stage to the revelation of the
New Testament, which is witli it comprehended in one
divine economy of salvation.^ The entire Old Testa-
ment remains a sealed book, if we fail to see that the
, subduing of the natural character of the people is the
whole aim of the divine tuition.
1 Oehler: "The view of the Old Testament which is now promi-
nent and which claims that it seeks to understand the Old Testa-
ment historically, is, that Israel by virtue of a certain genius tor
, religion was more successful in the search of true religion than
the other nations of antiquity, and soared higher than the rest
toward the purest divine thoughts and endeavors Yet, al-
though individual contributions made to the matter of 0. T. the-
ology h'om this standpoint have great value, the 0. T. can never
be historically understood in this way. Does even a single page
of the 0. T. agree with this view, by which Israel is represented
as a i)eo])le of such genius in the production of religious thought,
and the 0. T. religion as a natural product oi the Israelitish
spirit?"
THE BIBLICAL IDEA OF REVELATION. 23
[Analysis: 1) The revelation of the O. T. differs from heathen
religions; 2) is closely related to the N. T.; 3) the modern critical
view of the O. T.; 4j but the O. T. religion is not a natural
product ot Israel.]
§ 6. The Biblical Idea of Revelation. General and Special
Revelation.
The Biblical idea of Revelation has its root in the
idea of Creation. The production of different classes
of beings advances teleologically, and reaches its goal
only when God has created man in his own image. In
this progression the foundation of revelation is laid.
For revelation is, in general, God's witness and com-
munication of Himself to the Avorld for the realiza-
tion of the end of Creation and the re-establishing of
the full communion of man with God.i God testifies,
partly in nature and the historical guidance of man-
kind, and partly in each one's conscience, of His
power, goodness, and justice, and thus draws man to
seek God (Isa. 40: 21-26; Jer. 10: 1-25; Ps. 19: 1
-6; 94: 8-10).
The original communion of man with God destroyed
by sin, is not recovered by means of this general reve-
lation. The living God remains to the natural man,
in all his searchings, a hidden God (Isa. 45: 15;
Jer. 23: 18; John 1: 18). It is only by God's stoop-
ing to man in personal testimony of Himself, and
by the objective presentation of Himself, that a vital
communion is actually established between God and
man. This is the special revelation which first appears
in the form of a covenant between God and a chosen
race, and the founding of a Kingdom, of God among
1 Phllippi : "God can only place Himself in fellowship with man
through revelation. . . In our Christian consciousness we know
only of two central and fundamental acts of Revelation on the
part of God, the act of Creation and the act of Redemption. i
(Glaubenslehre 1. 12,13).
24 INTRODUCTION.
the latter culminates in the manifestation of God in
the flesh, advances from this point to the gathering of
a people of God in all nations, and is completed in the
making of a new heaven and a new earth (Isa. 65: 17;
66: 22; Rev. 21: 1, 2), where God shall be all in all
(1 Cor. 15: 28). The relation between general and
special revelation is such, that the former is the contin-
ual basis of the latter, the latter the aim and com-
pletion of the former.
[Analysis: 1) Revelation has its root in Creation ; 2) there are
only two fundamental acts of revelation; 3) general revelation ;
4) special revelation; 5) the relation between the two.]
§ 7. Historical Character and gradual progress of Revela-
tion. Its supernatural character.
The special revelation of God does not at a bound
enter the world all finished and complete, but as it
enters the sphere of human life, it observes the laws
of historical development which are grounded in the
general divine system of the world. And because
revelation aims at the resto'ration of full communion
between God and man, it is directed to the whole of
man's life, and not exclusively or mainly to man's
faculty of knowledge. Biblical revelation, as here de-
fined, is distinguished from the view of the older
Protestant Theology in two respects : 1) in the older
Protestant Theology revelation was essentially, and
almost exclusively, regarded as doctrine. But Revela-
tion cannot possibly confine itself to the cognitive
side of man. Biblical Theology must be a theology
of divine facts. 2) The Older Theology failed to recog-
nize the general development which revelation passes
through in Scripture itself. The Bible was supposed
to attest equally, in the Old and New Testaments,
the truths which the Church has accepted as doc-
trines.
THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS. 25
Revelation makes itself known as differing from the
natural revelations of the human mind, not only by
the continuity and the organic connection of the facts
which constitute the history of salvation, but also in
its special character (miracle), which points distinctly
to a^ divine causality. A miracle is revelation in the
form of a divine act, prophecy is revelation in the
form of a divine word.
The living experience of salvation is first found com-
plete on the basis of the New Testament revelation.
[Analysis: 1) Revelation is progressive ; 2) its aim; 3) this pre-
sentation differs in two respects from the view of the older
Protestant theolog^^; 4) its difference from natural revelation.]
§ 8. The Old and New Testaments in their relation to each
other.
Revelation falls into two principal divisions, the
Old and the New Testament, which stand to each other
in the relation of preparation and fulfilment, and are
thus, as a connected dispensation of salvation, dis-
tinguished from all other religions (Eph. 2: 12). But
the unity of the Old and New Testament must not be
understood as identity. T\ie Old Testament /Vse// acknowl-
edges that the manifestation of God's Kingdom at
that time Avas imperfect and temporary, and, indeed,
at the very time in which the old form of the theocracy
was overthrown, it predicted the new eternal covenant
w^hich God would make with his people (Jer. 31: 31-
34). vStill more distinctly does the New Testament
emphasize the difference from the Old which subsists
Avithin the unity of the two Testaments. The eternal
counsel of salvation, although announced hj the
prophets, is nevertheless not completely revealed till
after its actual realization (Rom. 16: 25, 26; 1 Pet.
1: 10-12; Eph. 1: 9, 10; 3: 5). The tuition of the
law reached its goal in the grace and truth of Christ
26 INTRODUCTION.
(John 1: 17; Rom. 10: 4; Gal. 3: 24, 25). In the
saving benefits of the new covenant, the shadow of
the old dispensation passes into reality (Col. 2: 17;
Heb. 10: 1-4); therefore the greatest man in the old
covenant is less than the least in the kingdom of
Christ (Matt. 11:11).
[Analysis: 1) Relation between the Old and New T.; 2) their
unity; 3) their difference; 4) aim of the O. T.]
§ 9. Theological View of the Old Testament in the Early
Church and Middle Ages.
Old Testament Theology, as an independent branch
of study, is, like Biblical Theology in general, a mod-
ern science. During the whole development of Church
doctrine down to the middle of the present century,
no distinct line was dra^Mi between the essential con-
tents of revelation as they are laid down in the
Scriptures and the doctrinal formulas elaborated
from them ; and still less were the successive stages of
revelation and types of doctrine which are presented
in Scripture recognized. The proposition, "the New
Testament lies hidden in the Old, the Old Testament
lies open in the New,"i which is in itself correct, was
so perverted as to be made to mean that the Avliole of
Christian theology, veiled indeed, but already fully
formed, could be shown to exist in the Old Testa-
ment.
The New Testament references to the Old Testament
are limited by the occasions afforded in the Gospel his-
tory and the apostolic trains of thought, but especial-
ly valuable for this purpose are the Epistle to the He-
brews and the Gospel of Matthew. A more sj^stematic
discussion of the representations concerning Christ
in. the Old Testament begins with the Epistle of Bar-
- 1 Novum Testamentura in Vetere latet, Yetus Testamentum
in Novo patet.
THEOLOGICAL VIEW OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 27
nabas (71-120 a. d.), and in Justin's Dialogue with
Tryplio (died about 163 a. d.). We may regard the
three books (Lib. xv-xvii) in Augustine's great work
De Civitate Dei, as in a certain sense the first treatment
of the Theology of the Old Testament. The study of
the Old Testament in the Ancient Church reaches its
close with Gregory the Great. The cultivation of
Biblical Theology as a historical science Avas not
possible under the influence of the theology of the
Middle Ages. True, much detached matter valuable
for the Old Testament was brought to light in the
Middle Ages, and especially on the Song of Solomon,
in which the M3^sticism of the Middle Ages lives
and moves, as Bernard of Clairvaux's lectures on
Canticles show, — but this belongs not to Biblical
Theology.
[Analyses: 1) 0. T. Theology a modern science; 2) formerly no
stages of revelation recognized: 3) Augustine; -4) the Middle
Ages.]
§ 10. Theological View of the Old Testament In the Age of
the Reformation. ,
TheKeformation principle of the supreme authority
of Scripture drew the attention of theologians to the
Old Testament as w^ell as the New. To Johann Keuch-
lin {d. 1522), the uncle of Melanchthon, must be given
the credit not simply of opening a path for the study
of Hebrew in Germany, but also for so firmly main-
taining that it is the duty of the expositor of Scripture
to go back to the original text expounded according
to its literal sense, and to refuse to be dependent on
the Vulgate and the traditional expositions of the
Church which are connected with it.
The recognition of the difference between the Law and
ihe Gospel derived from Paul's Epistles was the first
thing that gave the Reformers a key to the theological
^8 INTRODUCTION.
meaning of the Old Testament. They also correctly
recognized, that even in the Old Testament a revela-
tion of God's gracious will in the promise of salvation
goes side by side with the revelation of the demands of
the divine mil in the law. Of all that is connected
with this practical sphere in the Old Testament,
Luther especially shows a profound understanding,
springing from a lively personal experience. In the
view which the Reformers (and especially Melanch-
thon) were fond of developing, that the Church began
in Paradise and continues throughout all time,
the whole emphasis is laid on the doctrinal unity of
revelation, existing under all change of outward
forms. The theological principle of exposition by the
analogy of faith, that Scripture should be explained by
Scripture, is a principle in itself perfectly correct, and
to have stated it, is one of the greatest merits of
Protestant theology, but the Reformers did not
properly apply it; the unity of the Old and New
Testaments w^as conceived of, not as produced by a
gradually advancing process of development, but as
a harmony of doctrine. .
[Analysis: 1) Reuchlin; 2) Luther; 3) Melanchthon; 4) the
analogy of faith; 5) the practical-theological exposition of the
Reformers does not do full justice to the historical meaning of the
Old Testament.]
§ 11. Theological Conception of the Old Testment in the
Older Protestant Theology.
The treatment of the Old Testament in the older
Protestant Theology Avas determined by the principles
just stated. The contents of the Scriptures were set
forth with strict regard to the systematic doctrines
of the Church, and without respect to the historical
manifoldness of the Scriptures themselves. The Old
Testament Avas used in all its parts, just like the Ncav
THEOLOGICAL TREATMENT OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 2^
Testament, for proofs of doctrine. In opposition to
the Romish theologians, especially Bellarmine, it was
taught on the side of Protestants, that in respect to
the fundamental doctrines, the Old Testament was in
no Avay incomplete ; and that these Avere only repeat-
ed more distinctly in the New Testament.
FAnalysis: 1) Seventeenth century theologians governed by same
principles; 2) in fundamental doctrines the 0. T. was m no way
incomplete.]
§ 12. Theological Treatment of the Old Testament from
1700 to 1800.
In the Lutheran Church, Collegia Biblica, or topical
lectures became common from the end of the seven-
teenth century onward. These lectures, which con-
tained exegetico-dogmatical discussions of the most
important proof-texts of the doctrines of the Church,
gave some impulse to the study of BibUcal as dis-
tinguished from Doctrinal Theology, but cannot be
regarded as of much consequence. In this connection
must be mentioned the influence of Spener (1685—
1705) and of Bengel (1687-1751). The latter in-
sisted on an organic and historical conception of
biblical revelation A\ith strict regard to the difference
of its stages. In this connection we may also men-
tion the names of Roos, Burk, Hiller, Oetinger, and
Crusius, who all have written profoundly on this sub-
ject, though in a plain and simple form.
The writings of the apologists Lardner, Warburton,
and others, directed against EngUsh Deism, cton-
tributed also much important matter to the biblical
branches of theology, but made little headway
against their opponents, because they agreed with
them in placing the 0. T. institutions on the ground
of bare utility.
[Analysis: 1) Topical lectures; 2) influence of Spener; 3) of
Bengel; 4) the school of Bengel ; 5) the English Apologists.]
30 INTRODUCTION.
§ 13. Rise of a Biblical Theology distinct from Dogmatic.
Treatment of the Old Testament by Rationalism.
John Philip Gabler^ is regarded as the first who
distinctly spoke of Biblical Theology as an historical
science. George Lorenz Bauer (1755-1806) may be
viewed as a leading representative of the rationalistic
treatment of the Old Testament at this period. ^ The
hints respecting a treatment of the Old Testament as
an organic history, which had been offered by Herder
(1744-1803), 3 were taken up by De Wette (1780-
1849) vdth discriminating appreciation. Ewald (1803
—75) in his various works* has interwoven with his
narrative a full account of the growth of the Old
Testament religion, but his vague notion of revela-
tion does not raise him essentially above the ration-
alistic method which he despises. Various attempts
have also been made to throw light on the narrative
of Genesis and the institutions of Closes from the
comparative history of religion.
[Analysis: 1) G abler; 2) Bauer; 3) EAvald.]
§ 14. Theological View of the Old Testament in the most
Recent Literature.
The first to exert a decisive influence on the theolog-
ical treatment of the Old Testament was Hengst en-
berg ((/. 1869).^ The position which Hengst enberg
first took in treating the Old Testament, and which
1 In his academic oration, De justo discrimine theologiae biblicae
et dogmaticae, 1787.
2 He wrote on nearly all the departments of Old Testament
study.
3 See his Letters on the Study of Theology.
4 History of the People of Israel (8 volumes); Antiquities of Israel
(1 vol.); Commentaries on the Prophets (5 vols.); Revelation (1 vol.);
Old and New Testament Theology (1 vol.).
5 Mainly by his Christology of the Old Testament. 2Dd ed., 1854 —
57. (English trans, in 4 vols. Edinburgh, 1854—58.)
THEOLOGICAL VIEW OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 3l
he never except partially relinquished, is essential-
ly that of the old Protestant theology; for while
not accepting all the tenets of the latter, he
yet very distinctly aimed at finding all the
fundamental New Testament doctrines in the Old
Testament, not in a process of g^o^^i]h, but ready
made. The work of Hsevernicki contains much that
is good. Valuable contributions to the theology of
the Old Testament are found in the works of Hof-
mann, ^ Auberlen, 3Beck,*Delitzsch, ^ and F. W.Schultz. ^
The works of Herman Schultz,^ Eiehm,^ and Piepen-
bring ^ contain a valuable collection of material on
almost every topic connected with the Old Testa-
ment, but are written from the standpoint of the
modern critical and analytical view of the Old Testa-
ment, according to which the priestly legislation of
the middle books of the Pentateuch is a post-exilic
production. 1 0 As suggestive compends we would rec-
1 Vorlesungen ueber die Theologie des A. T. Second ed., with ad-
ditions by Herman Schultz, 1863.
2 Weissagung etc., 1841—44; Schriftbeweis, second ed., 3 vols.,
1857—60.
3 In his Divine Revelation. Edinburgh, 1867.
4 Christliche Lehrwissenschaft. 1841.
5 Biblical Psychology. Edinburgh, 1869; Old Test. Hist, of Redemp-
tion. Edinburgh, 1881; Messianic Prophecies. Edinburgh, 1891.
6 In Zockler's Handbuch der theol. Wissenschaften.
1 Alttestamentliche Theologie. 4th ed., completely revised, 1889.
English transl. in 2 vols. Edinburgh, 1892.
8 Alttestamentliche Theologie. Halle 1889. Compare also his
Einleitung in das A. T. 2 vols. 1889, 1890.
9 Theology of the Old Testament. Transl. from the French. New
York, 1893.
10 The position of Herman Schultz can be inferred from the fol-
lowing quotation: "Genesis is the book of sacred legend, with a
mythical introduction. The first three chapters of it, in particular,
present us with the revelation-myths of the most important
kind, and the following eight with mythical elements that have
been recast more in the form of legend. From Abraham to Moses
we have national legend pure and simple, mixed with a variety of
mythical elements which have become almost unrecognizable.
32 INTRODUCTION.
ommend the work of Sclilottniann,^ and the small
Avork on this subject which has appeared in the Theolo-
gische Repetiiorien.- But the most important work on
this subject that has as vet appeared is the famous
work of Gustav Fred rich Oehler,^ and it is a question
Avhether it ever will be su]3erseded.
[Analysis: 1) The position of Heugstenberg: 2) HoflFman; 3)
Delitzscb; 4) Herman Schultz; 5) Scblottmann ; G) Oehler.]
As a historical science. Biblical Theology rests on
the results of grammatico -historical exegesis,t\ie business
of which is to reproduce the contents of the Biblical
books according to the rules of language, ^^itli due
regard to the historical circumstances under which
the books originated, and the individual relations of
sacred writers. Biblical Theology, however, must
view the Old Testament in the light of the completed
revelation of God in Christ for which it formed the
preparation,— must show how God's saving purpose,
fulfilled in Christ, moved through the pi-eliminary
stages of this history of revelation. Theological
exegesis, in the right sense of the word, is not affected
by the fact that Stier and other AM'iters have brought
theological interpretation into bad repute, by their
habit of finding a second, third, and fourth subor-
From Moses to David we have history still mixed with a great
dpal of the legendary, and even partly with mythical elements
that are no longer distinguishable. From David onwards we
have history, with no more legendary elements in it than are
everywhere present in history as written by the ancients"'
(page 31).
1 Kompendiiim der bibl. Theologie des A. und X. T. Leipsic,
18S9; 2nded.,189i.
2 Published by Schnltze's Verlag. Berlin. 1890.
3 The first German edition appeared in 1873-4; the first
English edition in 1874:-5. 1 he second German edition in 1882;
Revised English edition by Day. 1883; the first edition of my
abridgement in 1886: and the third German edition in 1891.
DIVISIONS OF OLD TESTAMENT THEOLOGY. 33
dinate and secondary sense in the Old Testament be-
sides the historico-gTammatical sense.
[Analysis: 1) Biblical Theology rests on grammatico-historical
exegesis; 2) the N. T. is the true interpreter ol the 0. T.; 3)
Scripture has not a multiple sense.]
§ 16. Divisions of Old Testament Theology.
The proper divisions are given by the follo^ving
considerations : The basis of the Old Testament re-
hgion is the Covenant with the chosen people, into
which God entered for the accomphshment of his sav-
ing purpose. This covenant, for which the way is
prepared in the first two ages of the world, is carried
out in two stages: 1) The patriarchal covenant of
promise; and 2) The Mosaic covenant of the law, on
the basis of which the theocracy is founded. This
whole sphere may be summed up in the nameA/osa/s/w.^
The second part of Old Testament Theology, which
w^e win briefly call Propheiism, deals with those ele-
ments in the history of the people of Israel from their
entrance into the Promised Land which are important
for the development of God's Kingdom, considering
these as they appear in the light of prophecy, and
also discusses the theology of prophecy itself.
The third division embraces Old Testament Wisdom,
1 It is not the aim of a work on Biblical Theology to answer
the objections raised bv the analytical school of Wellhausen,
Driver, and others. These critics may distribute the Pentateuch
and Joshua among as many different authors as they please, and
rearrange the whole Old Testament Canon to suit their own views,
still this does not prove their assertions, and a mere presentation
of their marvelously complicated theory of the origin of the Old
Testament, to most persons is a sufficient answer, and a demon-
stration of its falsity. Though there has been a remarkable dis-
plav of minute scholarship on the part of these critics, and their
positiveness and self-confidence in dissecting passages and books
has never been equalled in the whole realm of theological scholar-
ship,—most of it is pure speculation and mere lanciful conceit.
We write this deliberately with a full acquaintance of all the
latest phases of this controversy.
34 INTRODUCTION.
which equally with prophecy has its root in the law,
but devolops itself independently of prophecy.
The division of the Old Testament Canon into Law,
Prophets, and Hagiographa, though not entirely agreeing
with this division, points at least toward it.
[Analysis: 1) Mosaism; 2) Prophetism; 3) Old Testament Wis-
dom ; 4) the modern analytical view does not affect this method
of presentation.]
PART I
MOSAISM
PART I.
MOSAISM.
SECTION I.
THE HISTORY OF REVELATION FROM THE CREATION TO
THE OCCUPATION OF CANAAN.
§ 17. Division of this History.
The Pentateuch plainly distinguishes four periods
in the history of revelation :
1) The Primeval Age, mth ten patriarchs, closing
with the deluge.
2) The second age of the world, beginning with the
world-covenant in Noah's time, also vnth ten genera-
tions.
3) The .time of the three great patriarchs, begin-
ning with the covenant of promise made with Abra-
ham, and ending with the sojourn of the chosen peo-
ple in Egypt.
4) The time of Moses and Joshua, including the
giving of the covenant of the law, and the establish-
ment of the theocracy, with its regulations.
CHAPTER I.
THE PRIMEVAL AGE.
§ 18. The Account of the Creation.
The Old Testament begins with the account of the
Creation of the world, which is the result of the Word
and the Spirit of God. We have here, on the thresh-
38 MOSAISM.
old of the revelation of God to man, an account of
creation free from m^^thological additions, and the
Bible narrative, by its simplicity, its chaste, positive
historical character, is in sharp contrast with the fan-
ciful, allegorical, intricate cosmogonies of all heathen
religions.^
Since God by His Word calls all things into being,
He is placed above the beginning of all time as the
eternal and absolutely independent One; since He
animates the universe by His Spirii, all dualistic sepa-
ration of God and the world is excluded. ^
The production of beings advances continually to-
ward higher organisms, and we cannot fail to observe
a parallel between the first three and the last three
days' work. Still the divine creative power is not
satisfied till it reaches its ultimate end in the creation
of man.^
The paragraph Gen. 2: 4-25 is by no means a
second record of creation, but shows, in supplement-
ing the first chapter, that the earth was prepared for
1 A comparison of the early history of the Bible with the cunei-
form inscriptions is extremely interesting,both on account of their
remarkable resemblance and their characteristic difference. See
Savce: Fresh Light from the Ancient IVIonuments; Walsh: Echoes of
Bible History. 1891.
3 Cuvier: "A sublimer passage than this from the first word to
the last never can or will come from a human pen, 'In the begin-
ning God created the heaven and the earth.' "
Murphy in his Commentary on Genesis: "This simple sentence denies
atheism; for it assumes the being of God. It denies polytheism,
and, among its various forms, the doctrines of two eternal prin-
ciples the one good and the other evil,— for it confesses the one
eternal Creator. It denies materialism, for it asserts the creation
of matter. It denies pantheism, for it assumes the existence of
God before all things, and apart from them. It denies fatalism,
for it involves the freedom of the Eternal Being."
Delitzsch : The creation which is here intended is the first begin-
ning, which was not preceded by any other, hence the creation of
the universe, which also embraces the heaven ol heavens. (0. T.
Hist, of Redemption, p. 13).
3 For further study see Guyot: Creation, or the Biblical Cosmog-
ony in the Light of Modern Science. 1884.
THE ORIGIN OF EVIL. 39
a habitation for man—a sphere for his activity, and a
place for the revelation of God to man.i
[Analysis: 1) Biblical account of creation differs from heathen
cosmogonies; 2) testimony of Cuvier; 3) deductions of Murphy; 4)
a progress in creation ; 5) not two records of creation ; 6) differ-
ence between the two accounts.]
§ 19. The Origin of Evil.
The world as a divine creation is good (Gen. 1:
31); every development of life in it is a divine bless-
ing (Gen. 1: 22, 28); there is no room here for a
principle which, in its original nature, is wicked and
inimical to God. Man is called to be a free being ;
therefore a command is given to him for self-decision
(Gen. 2: 16), in order that he may pass from the con-
dition of innocence to that of free obedience. Man falls
under the temptation addressed to him from with-
out. ^ Through sin the bond of child-like communion
with God is broken ; and now man is in a sense inde-
pendent like God (Gen. 3: 22); but fear resting in the
feeling of guilt, dominates from this time forward his
position toward God (Gen. 3: 8-10). The life in
Paradise with its peace is forfeited, and man sinks
henceforth under the service of perishable things and
of death (Gen. 3: 17-24). Nevertheless conscience,
which testifies of guilt, shows also man's capability of
being redeemed ; and side by side \\ith the curse a
divine word points forward to a victorious end of the
conflict (Gen. 3: 15). The seed of the serpent, which
by cunning overcame the woman, shall be vanquished
1 Delltzsch : The difference between the two accounts is, that
Geu. 1: 1—2: 3 relates the origin of the human race, and Gen. 2:
4— 25 that of the first man and of the first human pair; in the
former man appears as the object and end of the line of creation,
in the latter as the centre of the circle of creation. (Genesis).
2 Some maintain that the fall of the spirit-world took place be-
fore the beginning of the six days' creation, placing it between
verses 1 and 2, of the first chapter of Genesis, and such a view
cannot be confuted, nor, on the other hand, can it be proved,
40 MOSAISM.
in open combat by the seed of the woman. Oehler
maintains, however, that the older theology erred
when it sought to find here (in Gen. 3: 15) the Mes-
siah, the great destroyer of the serpent, direct//
promised, although he is willing to grant that it did
not err in the general conception of ,the thought in
the passage. 1
[Analysis: 1) The origin of evil is not in man; 2) the time of the
fall of Satan; 3) the effect of sin; 4) man's capability of being re-
deemed; 5) Delitzsch lays stress on four points; 6) Oehler's ex-
planation of Gen. 3. 15; 7) the exposition of Delitzsch.]
§ 20. The First Offering. Cainites and Sethites. Tradition
of the Flood.
The first offering (Gen. 4) is not to be regarded as a
proper sin-offering, but rather an offering of supplica-
tion as well as of gratitude, or, in a wider sense of the
Avord we may designate it a propitiatory offering."^ The
1 Delitzsch : We must hold fast to the following as .realities: 1)
that there was a demoniacal evil one, before evil had taken posses-
sion of man ;_2) that the demoniacal evil one was the power of
temptation before which man fell; 3) that God after mankind
had fallen punished them, but at the same time opened a way of
salvation, by which they could again secure communion with
God: 4) that he placed before them in prospect the victory over
that power of temptation through which they had lost the com-
munion with God in Paradise. (Messianic Prophecies, 1891, p. 32).
On Gen. 3: 15 Delitzsch says: The entire history and order of
salvation are unfolded in the protevangelium. Like a sphinx, it
crouches at the entrance of sacred history. Later in the period of
Israelitish Prophecy and Chokhma, the solution of this riddle of
the sphinx begins to dawn ; and it is only solved by Him through
whom and in whom that has been revealed towards which this
primitive prophecy w^as aimed. (Idem, p 37). Again: The mur-
der of Abel by Cain is the first bruise in the heel which the seed of
the woman suffers from the seed of the serpent. (0. T. Hist, of
Redemption, p. 30).
2 Abridged from Delitzsch: 1) Sacrifice in its origin is not the
satisfaction of a divine command, but of an inward need; 2) the
sacrifice is in all its kinds a gift, an offering. It is founded in the
consecration (sacratio), and is completed in the oblation (oblatio);
3) it IS the first step in the re-estabhshment of the original rela-
tion between man and God on the one side, and the natural world
on the other, occupying with reference to both a mediatorial rela-
tion; 4) the bloody offering contains the expiator;y element,
THE FIRST OFFERING. 41
difference in the nature of the offerings was due to the
difference of the employments of the tAvo brothers;
so that the reason that Abel's offering pleased God,
was not that it was a bloody sacrifice. The reason can
only be found in the different states of heart of the two
offerers. This is indicated in Gen. 4: 3, where it is
evident that Abel made choice of the best to express
his gratitude, while Cain offers his gift of the fruit of
the ground without selection.
At the very opening of the Bible, therefore, empha-
sis is laid upon the pious disposition of the one making the
sacrifice, as the indispensable condition of its being
acceptable to God (compare Heb. 11: 4).
While among the descendants of Cain,^ the life of sin
rises to insolent defiance (Gen. 4: 23, 24), in Seth, who
takes the place of the murdered Abel, is propagated
the race of patriarchs who seek the living God (Gen.
4: 26). Enoch^ by his translation testifies of a way
of life which raised him above the law of death (5:
24), and Lamech^ announces the hope of a Saviour
which is wanting in the vegetable offering, and therefore takes
the precedence of it; 5) every offering is worthless without the
right internal state oi the one bringing it. (O.T. Hist, of Redemption,
1881. pp.31, 32).
1 Cain's wife was one of his sisters, for the marriage with sisters
first became incest at a later period.
2 This Enoch, according to the tradition which has been put in
form in the Book of Enoch, was a prophet, and according to Jude
vv. 14, 15, foretold the parousia of the Lord in judgment. The end
of Enoch's life shows that man, if he had proved true in the pro-
bation of free will, could have gone over into another stage of
existence without death and corruption. . . . The translation of
Enoch, as well as of Elijah, is a prophecy in act of the future end
of death (Isa. 25:8; 1 Cor. 15:54). (Delitzsch: Messianic Prophecies,
1891, p. 41).
3 Delitzsch: Lamech's hope is directed to the ultimate comfort,
and was also fulfilled in Noah, not indeed finally, but in a glorious
manner, for the rainbow after the flood was a comfort, the bless-
ing of which extended from that time on until the end. It pledged
mankind, after the wrathful visitation in judgment, of the dawn
of a better time, in which, instead of wrath, a blessing predomi-
nates, a time of favor, patience, and long-suffering of God (Acts
42 MOSAISM.
from the curse weighing on mankind as a consequence
of sin (5:29).
After the wickedness of man had reached its height
by the intermarriage of the sons of God (Sethites)
with the daughters of men (Cainites) (Gen. 6: 1, 2),
and the time granted for repentance had passed with-
out result, the judgment of extermination was exe-
cuted in the Flood,! from which Noah as the righteous
one (Gen. 6: 9) was saved, along with his family. ^
It is the first judgment on the world executed by the
holy God, who, according to Gen. 6: 3, will no longer
permit His Spirit to be profaned by man's sin. But
for Noah and his family the event means that the
chosen ones shall be saved because of their faith in the
word of threatening and promise (see Heb. 11: 7). ^
[Analysis: 1) The first offering was propitiatory; 2) five points
developed by Delitzsch; 8) the reason why Abel's offering pleased
God; 4) what constitutes a true offering; 5) Enoch; 6) Noah, a
mediator of comfort; 7) distinction between the Cainites and the
Sethites; 8) their intermarriage; 9) the universality of the flood ;
10) thefirstjudgment on the world; 11) a type of baptism.]
17: 30; 14: 17; Rom. 3: 26). Noah is the first mediator of
sacred history, a mediator of comfort. (Idem, p. 43).
1 Delitzsch : The Biblical narrative does not demand an abso-
lutely universal deluge. The flood was so far universal as it de-
stroyed the entire human race then living. That was its only
object. (0. T. Hist, of Redemption, 1881, p. 36).
2 The tradition of the flood is found in several religions of an-
tiquity; but in these traditions each religion evidently expresses a
distinct idea of its own. The universality of the tradition of the
flood is a powerful proof of the historical unity of the human
race.
3 The flood is a type of baptism (1 Pet. 3: 21), and the ark is a
type of the church.
i
CHAPTER II.
THE SECOND AGE OF THE WORLD.
§ 21. Covenant with the World. Noah's Saying. Division
of Mankind.
The second age of the world begins with the new
form taken by revelation, in presenting itself as God's
covenant with man, and in the first instance, as a
covenant with the world, in which God gives to crea-
tion a pledge of its preservation (Gen. 9: 8-17).^
Sacrifice precedes the institution of the covenant
(Gen. 8: 20), ^ which offering is mainly thanksgiving
for the deliverance experienced, while at the same
time man thereby approaches God, seeking grace for
the future, after having seen the severity of God's
penal justice.
The words of Noah in Gen. 9: 25-27 are of the
greatest importance for the conception of the general
history of mankind as given in the Old Testament,
1 This Noachian covenant is until the present the gracious
power which preserves the world, which assures the continuance
of the human race; and the bow in the clouds is still the sign of
the victory which grace won over wrath. . . . The Synagogue
reckons seven Noachian commandments, the fulfilment of which
was demanded by the so-called proselytes of the gate,— 1 ) the
prohibition of idolatry; 2) of blasphemy; 3) of incest; 4) of
murder; 5) of theft; 6) of the flesh of animals which are yet alive;
7) the institution of magisterial power. Of these seven com-
mandments, Gen. 9: 1 — 7 contains only the fourth, sixth, and
seventh (Delitzsch: 0. T. Hist, of Redemption, pp. 37, 38).
2 Delitzsch : Paradise, and the presence of God upon the thresh-
old of Paradise, have now vanished from the earth. The suppliant
hereafter looks upward; the one bringing a sacrifice raises on
high therefore a place upon the earth. The offering is called 'ola,
that which ascends. Earth and heaven are now separated.
(Idem, p. 87).
44 MOSAISM.
for here is indicated the type of development of the
human race. The race of Shem, to whom Jehovah is
God, is chosen as the bearer of divine revelation ; on
Japheth the blessing is conferred through Shem ; on
Ham, and mainly on Canaan, the curse of slavery is to
press. ^
The establishment of that world-kingdom which is at
enmity to God, proceeds from the Hamites (Gen. 10:
8-10), 2 whose first seat seems to have been Babel.
Here begins the distinction between the kingdom of
God and the kingdom of the world which runs through
the whole Bible.
The register of nations (Gen. 10: 1 — 32) is intended
to keep in memory the original brotherhood of all the na-
tions of the earth (cf. Acts 17: 26), which are again to
be united in time to come, by one blessing of God (cf.
Gen. 12: 3; 18: 18; etc.).
The importance of this "register of the nations" can
scarcely be over-estimated. The vast increase of hu-
man knowledge in recent time has proved the truth
of its statements. It concerns people and not individ-
uals, and stands at the end of grand traditional rec-
ords of the mighty past, giving us a picture of the
world at a time when nations and kingdoms had be-
come settled and their boundaries fixed. The docu-
ment, however, must be prior to the destruction of
Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 10: 19). The table works
backwards, and not forwards. Taking the nation at
some particular time, it groups them together, and
1 The pages of history are the best illustration of the fulfilment
of these predictions.
2 When the descendants of Japheth were wandering over Europe
with no better weapons than implements of flint and bone, the
descendants of Ham were building mighty oities,— such as Egyp-
tian Thebes, Nineveh, and Babylon, — and founding the great
empires of the East. Compare the valuable series of books pub-
lished under the general title: By Paths of Bible Knowledge. See also
Geikie: Hours with the Bible, vol. 1; Weidner: Studies in Genesis.
THE FOUNDATION OF A PEOPLE OF GOD. 45
classifies them according to the line to which they be-
longed.
[Analysis: 1) The second age of the world begins with a covenant
with man; 2) this covenant assures the continuance of the hu-
man race; 3) the seven Noachian commandments; 4) the sig-
nificance of Noah's offering; 5) the meaning of Gen. 9: 25—27:
7) civilization first developed among the Hamites ; 7) the object
of the register of nations; 8) the importance and nature of this
register.]
§ 22. The Foundation of a People of God.
In order to give a historical basis to the work of
salvation, a people is to be chosen as the bearer of rev-
elation. When God assigned to the nations of the earth
the territory where they were to develop themselves,
He had in view the place which his chosen people
should afterward possess in order to fulfill their his-
torical calling (Deut. 32: 8).^
In connection, probably, with the mighty moving
of the nations at this early period, the Terahites leave
the ancestral dwelling-place of the Chaldeans in
northern Assyria and wander first to Haran in
northern Mesopotamia (Gen. 11: 31). Here, where
idolatry, designated as the worship of Teraphim, be-
gins to break out even in this family (Josh. 24: 2;
Gen. 31: 19), the basis of the Old Testament dispen-
sation is laid by the calling of Abram (Gen. 12:- 1).
While the nations of the earth walk in their own ways,
in which they develop their natural peculiarities, an
everlasiing people is to be founded in Abram's descen-
dants (Isa. 44: 7), Avhich in its peculiar national type
is to be not a product of natural development, but of
the creative power and grace of God (Deut. 32: 6). It
is only in this idea of the people of God that the key is
given to the Old Testament history, which would
1 This passage refers to the division of the nations as given in
Gen. 11: 1-9.
46 MOSAISM.
otherwise remain an insoluble riddle, i The view
that the Old Testament dispensation is a natural
production of religious genius of the people of Israel
must be absolutely rejected.
[Analysis: 1) A special nation was chosen as a bearer of salva-
tion; 2) the wandering of the Babylonian Shemites; 3) the call
of Abraham; 4) the Old Testament religion is not to be regarded
as a natural growth of the Semitic character.]
1 Delitzsch : The call of Abram had in view a family of God, and
in this family a people of God, and in this people the God-man.
The ethical character of the new beginning is determined by this.
(0. T. Hist, of Redemption, p. 43).
CHAPTER III.
THE TIME OF THE PATRIARCHS.
§ 23. Abraham.
Obedient to the divine call, Abram leaves Mesopo-
tamia, accompanied by Lot, the ancestor of the
Moabites and Ammonites, to go to Canaan, which is
already (Gen. 12: 6) possessed by the tribes bearing
this name. In solemn revelation God closes with him
the covenant of promise (Gen. 15: 1-21), and Abram,
several years later, takes upon himself the obligations
of the covenant through circumcision (Gen. 17:
1—27).
Three points are contained in the promises given to
Abram (Gen. 12: 2, 3, 7; 13: 15, 16; 17: 5-8; 22: 16
-18): 1) Unto him is to be given for an everlasting
possession to his descendants, all the land of Canaan;
2) He who remains childless till his old age shall have
an innumerable posterity; 3) In his seed shall all
the earth be blessed.
Abraham, by his faith, which is reckoned to him for
righteousness, becomes the father of all believers
(cf. Rom. 4 and Gal. 3), and his name stands at
the head of the three monotheistic religions of the
world (Jewish, Christian, and Mohammedan) even
when looked at in a purely historical way.
The character of God's people is eihically determined
from the first, and Gen. 18: 19 shows that not all
natural descendants belong to the true sons of Abra-
ham and to the heirs of the promise.
48 MOSAISM.
On the relation of the religion of the patriarchs to
the surrounding heathenism, the narratives in Gen. 14:
18—22 and Chap. 22 shed the most important light.
The former passage contains the story of Melchizedek,
king of Salem. This Salem is mthout doubt Jerusa-
lem, and Abraham in the way which he does homage
to Melchizedek manifestly acknowledges the God
whose priest Melchizedek is. We have here traces of
an older purer monotheism on Canaanitish ground,
which at first sight is remarkable, because elsewhere
the relation of the Old Testament God to the Canaan-
itish religion is sharply antagonistic. No doubt we
have here a remnant of an older and pure religion,
preserved in the midst of the Canaanitish religion by
a Semitic race dwelling among Canaanites.
Abraham accepted from Salem's priest and king,
Melchizedek, not only bread and wine for the invigor-
ation of his exhausted warriors, but a priestly bless-
ing also, and gave him in return the tenth of all his
booty, as a sign that he acknowledged this king as a
priest of the living God, and that he submitted to his
royal priesthood. And although we can see in Melchi-
zedek nothing more than one, perhaps the last of the
witnesses and confessors of the early revelation of
God, coming out into the light of history from the
dark night of heathenism ; yet this appearance does
point to a priesthood of universal significance, and
to a higher order of things, which existed at the com-
mencement of the world, and is one day to be restored
again. In all these respects, the noble form of this
King of Salem and Priest of the Most High God was
a type of the God-King and eternal High Priest. Jesus
Christ; a thought which is expanded in Heb. 7, on
the basis of this account, and of the divine utterance
revealed to David in the Spirit, that the king of Zion
ABRAHAM. 49
sitting on the right hand of Jehovah should be a
priest forever after the order of Melchizedek (Ps.
110: 4). 1
With reference to the second narrative, ihe tempta-
tion of Abraham, Kurtz in his History of the Qld Covenant,
seems to have given the right explanation. He says :
''Abraham must have been conscious that the way
that led to the perfecting of his faith was the way
of renunciation and self-denial. The sight of the
Canaanite sacrifices of children must have led Abra-
ham to self-examination, whether he would be
strong enough in renunciation and self-denial to
do what those heathen did, if his God desired it from
him. But if the question was once made the subject
of discussion in Abraham's heart, it had also to be
brought to a definite and real decision." But the
remarks of Keil in his Commentary are equally true :
"The command to offer up his only son Isaac did not
come from Abraham's own heart, — Avasnot a thought
suggested by the sight of the human sacrifices of the
Canaanites, that he would offer a similar sacrifice to
his God ; nor did it originate with the tempter to evil.
The word came from Ha-Elohim, the personal true
God, who tried him, who demanded the sacrifice of
the only, beloved son, as a proof and attestation of
his faith. The issue, however, shows, that God did
not desire the sacrifice of Isaac by slaying and burn-
ing him upon the altar, but his complete surrender,
and a willingness to offer him up to God even by
death." Oehler makes the follomng deductions from
this point of view : The culminating point of worship
in the religions of nature was human sacrifice. The
covenant had to separate itself in this respect from
heathenism ; the truth in it had to be acknowledged,
1 See Keil in Ms Commentary on Gen. 14: 18—22.
50 MOSAISM.
and the falsehood denied. In the command to offer
up Isaac, the truth of the conviction that human Hfe
must be sacrificed as an unholy thing, is acknowl-
edged ; and by the arresting intervention of God, the
hideous distortion of this truth ^Yhich had arisen in
heathenism is condemned and rejected.
[Analysis: 1) The covenant with Abraham; 2) three points are
contained in the promises to Abraham ; 3) Abraham, the father
of all believers ; 4) Melchizedek ; 5) a type of Christ ; 6) the sig-
nificance of the temptation of Abraham.]
§ 24. Isaac and Jacob.
Very little is recorded of the life of Isaac ; he walked
in the footsteps of his father, and the divine promises
given to the latter w^ere renewed to him (Gen. 26: 2-
5). Of his twin-sons, Jacob, the second-born son,
was chosen as the bearer of the promise (Rom. 9: 11).
The fundamental thought connected with the divine
guidance of Jacob's life is, that in spite of all human
hindrances, the divine counsel reaches its goal, and
that even human sins must serve for its realization,
although they are punished none the less. By the
sin of Jacob and his mother, Isaac's purpose, which
was in opposition to the promise to Jacob (Gen. 25:
23), is thwarted; yet Jacob's sin is visited on him
in the straits he experienced in his wanderings (Gen.
27: 42-45), which were occasioned by his artifice
against Esau,^ and particularly in the sorrows after-
wards prepared for him by his sons, w^hen he who
himself had preached deception must himself in a like
manner be deceived. The covenant promise given to
1 Delltzsch: Jacob received the four-fold blessing of the first-
born; 1) The possession of the land of Canaan under the divine
benediction (Gen. 27; 27, 28); 2) the subjection of nations (27:
29 a); 3) the primacy over his brothers (27: 29 b); 4) the highest
position in redemptive history,— so that blessings and curses are
conditioned by the attitude which men take to him. (Messianic
Prophecies 1891, p. 48).
THE TWELVE PATRIARCHS. 51
him at the beginning of his journey to Mesopotamia,
in the theophany at Bethel, in order to strengthen
him for the years of exile (Gen. 28: 10-15), is con-
firmed at the same place on his return (Gen. 35: 9-
15), after he had gained for himself and his race in
the night-long wrestling at Jabbok, which forms the
turning-point of his life, the new and holy name of
Israel, characteristic of his divine calling (Gen 32: 24
-28). It is common, especially in the practical use
of this latter passage, to limit one's self to seeing in
Jacob's struggle a symbol of wrestling in pra^^er,
which does not become wearied until it mns the bless-
ing. But it is better to distinguish a tw^o-fold wrest-
ling. Jacob's combat, when he first wrestles with bodily
strength, is perhaps a picture of the perverseness of his
former life, and his becoming lame is then meant to
show that God does not permit Himself to be forced
by natural strength. But then Jacob becomes victo-
rious by the weapon of prayer (Hos. 12: 4, 5).
[Analysis: 1) Isaac; 2) the lesson of Jacob's life; 3) his sins
visited upon him: 4) receives a four-fold blessing; 5) the the-
ophany at Bethel ; 6) the name Israel : 7) the significance of Ja-
cob's wrestling with the Angel.]
§ 25. The Twelve Patriarchs.
That there are twelve tribes is explained by the Old
Testament from the number of the sons of Jacob. A
long period of expectation in exile and slavery is first
prescribed (Gen. 15: 13, 14) to Jacob's descendants
before they enter upon their possession of the land of
Canaan. The completion of the divine decree is intro-
duced by the providential history of Joseph. Jacob
dies in Egypt after having predicted the future of the
tribes descending from his sons, in his prophetic bless-
ing (Gen. 49), which looks far beyond the time in
w^hich his descendants continue strangers. The twelve
52 MOSAISM.
tribes are here portrayed, partly according to their
geographical relationship, while at the same time
Jacob's words rest on ethical and psychological con-
siderations.* With regard to the theo/og/ca/ meaning
of these sayings, it is taught by this blessing, that
in the divine kingdom things do not occur in the way
of nature, but according to divine choice. Neither he
who should have taken the lead by right of birth, nor
yet the father's darling, is called to stand at the head
of the Kingdom of God.
Among the twelve Joseph is especially prominent,
who is to become a mighty double tribe in his twx)
sons Manasseh and Ephraim (Gen. 48: 5). It is
Judah, on the other hand, who is especially chosen as
the bearer of the promise.
[Analysis: 1) Why twelve tribes? 2) the history of Joseph; 3)
the signiicance of Jacob's prophetic blessing; 4) Judah, the
bearer of the promise.]
1 Herder: Jacob's mind ie strengthened from heaven to note the
slumbering destiny in the soul of his sons, and to open this hidden
book of their separate traits of character and action.
i
i
CHAPTER lY.
THE TIME OF MOSES AND JOSHUA.
§ 26. Condition of the People of Israel in Egypt.
At the close of the time of the Patriarchs, the biblic-
al account passes silently over a long period, in which
Israel gTows up into a people. The simple tribal life,
such as we must suppose Israel's to have been in
those centuries, really forms no history.
The Old Testament gives us some intimations of
the condition of the people in Egypt. They seem, on
the whole, to have kept to the pastoral life of their
fathers in Goshen. As the Egyptians and Israelites
hved together (Ex. 3: 22; 12: 33-36), the people
could not have remained unaffected by the Egyptian
culture, which was at that time already very far
advanced, and it is a mistake to regard the Israelites
at their Exodus fi'om Egypt as a rude race of no-
mads, in whom we may not presuppose even the
smallest beginning of culture. They appear in the
Pentateuch as an unmanageable, but not as an uncul-
tured people. The pohtical organization of the people
had developed itself in a genealogical way, which cor-
responds to the natural character of the Semites, who
are characterized by strong family attachment. With
regard to the religious condition of the nation, we find
that among the mass of the people the remembrance
of the God of their fathers, and of the promises given
to them, had to be awakened. The purer worship of
God which we find among the patriarchs had been
54 MO^AISM.
displaced by idol-worship,, as may be concluded partly
from express testimony (Josh. 24: 14; Ezek. 20: 7-9;
23: 8, 19), and partly from the idol-worship to which
the people gave themselves during their wandering in
the wilderness (the worship of the calf at Sinai, Ex.
32; the service of the he-goats. Lev. 17: 7; the ser-
vice of the fire-god Moloch, Lev. 18: 21; 20: 2).
There is no ground whatever for the view that the
Israelitish monotheism was developed from a lower
stage of natural religion.
[Analysis: 1) Israel grows up into a nation in Egypt; 2) the
Israelites were not an uncultured people; 3) their religious con-
dition ; 4) addicted to idol-worship.]
§ 27. The Course of Deliverance from Egypt.
The deliverance from Egypt is related in the book of
Exodus. The divine instrument for this was Moses.
AVhat Moses failed to do when trying in his OAvn might,
he w^as to accomplish forty years after as an instru-
ment in God's hand. The ten plagues which are sent on
the Egyptians (Ex. 7-12, compared with Ps. 78: 43
-51; 106: 21, 22) are mostly connected ^^-ith natural
events and conditions which frequently recur in Egypt.
The order of their succession stands in close connec-
tion with the natural course of the Egyptian year. But
partly the severity of the plagues, and partly their
connection with the word of Moses (Ex. 8: 5, 6), make
them signs of Jehovah's power. The plagues rise
from step to step until, after the tenth plague (the
kilhng of the first-born of the Egyptians, which takes
place the same night as the substitution of the Pass-
over in Israel), the Egyptians, full of fear, drive the
people from the land. ^ Because the people are not
1 The passages in Ex. .3: 21, 22; 11: 2, 3; 12: 35, 36, have been
celebrated on account of misinterpretation and njistranslation.
No robbery is here implied, but a simple taking away. The Revised
THE EDUCATIONAL AIM. 55
yet matured for war with the nations of Canaan,
Moses does not lead them to Canaan by the nearest
road, but chooses the round-about way through the
wilderness of Sinai. Their faith was tested at the
passage of the Red Sea (Ex. 14). *
[Analysis: 1) Moses, the deliverer of Israel ; 2) the ten plagues;
3) the Passover; 4) the length of Israel's sojourn.]
§ 28. The Educational Aim of the March through the
Wilderness. The Covenant of the Law established.
The people, scarcely escaped from the rod of correc-
tion, from the flesh-pots and idols of Egypt, must be
educated, sifted, and purified for their calling; and
this educational aim is secured by the march through
the wilderness, where the people are thrown entirely
on their God, where they become aware of their need
of help through want and privation, and are to be
exercised in obedience and trust; and to prove at the
same time, in the experience of the divine leading and
help, what they have in their God (Deut. 8: 2—5, 14
— 18). In Hos. 2: 16, the future restoration of Israel
English Version translates correctly. The sense of the passages
is, that the Egyptians are glad to get rid of the Israelites at this
price, no that we have here an act of remuneration, that the chil-
dren of Israel might receive at least some compensation for all
their labor and suffering.
1 A difficult question here arises, whether we are to make the
duration of the sojourn in Egypt from the entrance of Jacob
into Egypt 215 years, or 430 years. The Hebrew text in Ex. 12 ;
40, 41 compared with Gen. 15: 13 seems to make the duration
430 years, while St. Paul in Gal. 3: 17 favors the shorter period,
which appears to be the true solution. Not only Helenistic tra-
dition, butr also Palestinian, testifies that the sojourn of the
Israelites in Egypt lasted 215 years. Much may be said on both
sides, and the best critics are divided on this question. Egyp-
tian history can not aid us in the solution on account of the ex-
treme uncertainty of its chronology, and to this day Egyptolo-
gists are not agreed as to the date of the 18th dynasty within
two centuries (specialists giving dates ranging from 1703 B. C. to
1520 B. C), nor as to its duration within a century (Brugsch
assigns to it 300 years; Mariette, 241; Bunsen, 221; Wilkinson,
196).
56 MOSAISM.
is represented as a new guidance through the Tvdlder-
ness. In the third month (Ex. 19: 1), on the first of
the month, the people reached Sinai, where Jehovah,
as the Holy One, founds the theocracy and enters on
His Kingship. Then follows the promulgation of the
fundamental law by which Jehovah binds Israel's
race to a holy constitution. By the covenant offering
(Ex. 24), the entrance of the people into communion
with the Holy God is sealed. With regard to grace
and judgment, Israel is from this time forward the
privileged people of God.
[Analysis: 1) Israel must be purified; 2) significance of their
march through the wilderness; 3) the giving of the law; 4) the sig-
nificance of the covenant offering.]
§ 29. The First Breach of the Covenant. Order of the Camp.
Departure from Sinai. Sentence on the People.
The people soon break the covenant by falling into
idolatry in the absence of Moses (Ex. 32: 1-6).
Moses executes judgment on the idolaters, and on
this occasion the tribe of Levi obtains its consecra-
tion (Ex. 32: 26-29). One of the most beautiful sec-
tions of the Pentateuch, in which Moses appears in
all his greatness, is the story of his offering himself as
anathema, if God will only forgive the people,-a
thought which has been uttered by only one other
than Moses, namely Paul (Rom. 9: 3).* During the
stay at Sinai, which was for about a year, the holy
tabernacle is set up and dedicated, the ordinances of
worship are regulated, and a number of the laws are
given. 2 Finally, the order of encampment is fixed,
1 In Genesis we have a mediatorial intervention, when Abra-
ham wishes to intervene lor Sodom and Gomorrah; but more re-
markable is the intervention ol Moses, who proposes to be
blotted out of the book of Life.
2 According to the negative Higher Critics the tabernacle is a
pure fiction of the post-exilic period, a false position which we
cannot here discuss.
THE WANDERING DURING THIRTY SEVEN YEARS. 57
by which the relation of Jehovah to the people as
His army, and at the same time their relation to each
other, are distinctly expressed (Num. 2 and 3).
In the second year, on the twentieth of the month,
the removal from Sinai takes place. They succeed,
under repeated outbreaks of their stiffneckedness and
chastisements suffered on this account, in reaching
Kadesh-Barnea, the southern boundary of Canaan.
From this point Moses causes the land to be searched
by twelve spies. The accounts which they bring back
raise a general insurrection. A wandering of forty
years long in the mlderness is decreed against the
people, during which time the whole body of men who
were capable of war is to be swept away, except
Joshua and Caleb, who had no share in the offense
(Num. 14). Hence the history of the march through
the wilderness is treated as a type of warning for all
times (Ps. 78; 1 Cor. 10: 1-12; Heb. 3: 7-11).
Analysis: 1) The first breach of the covenant; 2) the tribe of
Levi obtains its consecration ; 3) Moses as mediator; 4) the erec-
tion of the tabernacle; 5) the order of the camp; 6) march from
Smai; 7) the twelve spies; 8) the rebellion ; 9) the punishment;
10) the march a type oi warning for all time.]
§ 30. The Wandering during Thirty-seven Years in the
Wilderness, and the Events up to the Occupation of the Land
on the east side of Jordan.
The history of the Pentateuch passes over the fol-
lowing thirty-seven years almost wholly in silence. Ac-
cording to Deut. 1: 46, a long stay of the people in
Kadesh must be presupposed. The seventeen places
of encampment which are mentioned in Num. 33: 19
-36 between Rithmah and Kadesh are those at
which the Israelites pitched their camps during the
thirty-seven years of Avandering in the wilderness. In
the first month of the fortieth year, the people are
58 MOSAISM.
again in Kadesh-Barnea. The new-grown race shows
the same stubbornness as the earlier one ; they con-
tend with Moses and Aaron ; and as at this time even
the faith of these two wavers, to them also entrance
into the land of rest is denied (Num. 20: 10-12). ^ A
new outbreak of the people's stubbornness draws upon
them another chastisement. The brazen saraph (a
fiery serpent) which was suspended, is a symbol of the
doing away of evil through the power and grace of
God (Num. 21: 4-9). To this the typical use in John
3: 14 attaches itself. Then follow, in the land on the
east side of the Jordan, successful combats, as a testi-
mony of Jehovah's faithfulness and a pledge of future
victory. Especially interesting is the history of
Balaam and Balak (Num. 22: 1-24: 25). It is in
this connection that the well-known prophetic pas-
sage concerning the star and sceptre arising out of Is-
rael, occurs (Num. 24: 17-19). ^ The new numbering
of the people, which was made in the plains of Moab
(Num. 26), shows the new-gro^^^l race to be numer-
ically almost the same as before (601,730 men fit for
war, against 603,550).
[Analysis: 1) The 37 years of wandering; 2) the people arrive
again at Kadesh-Barnea; 3) guilty of stubbornness; 4) the sin
of Moses and Aaron ; 5) the significance of the brazen serpent; 6)
the history of Balaam: 7) the famous prophecy, Num. 24: 17
-19.]
§ 31. Deuteronomy. Death of Moses. His position among
the Organs of Revelation.
The people's wandering is completed, and Moses is
to place the staff of leadership in Joshua's hands. The
1 The lesson of the narrative is, that unbroken obedience was
demanded by God from his chosen instruments, and that they
were thus punished as a warning to the people.
2 The oracles of Balaam are divided into four sections, which
unroll the future history of the kingdom of God in its relation to
the kingdoms of the world.
DEUTERONOMY. 59
last testament of the departing leader to Ws people is
given in Deuteronomy . This, although one of the most
disputed books in the Old Testament, is one of the
most beautiful.^ When Moses has finished blessing his
people, he mounts to the top of Pisgah, in order to
cast yet one look on the longed-for land, and appears
no more on earth. His end is related in a mysterious
way, but is indicated by the same expressions as the
common end of man's life (Deut. 34: 5, 7; compared
with Dent. 32: 50). ^
The position of Moses as divinely ordained to exer-
cise all the powers of the theocracy, is a unique one,
which did not descend to Joshua, who had only to
execute inherited commands, and administer a law
already given. Joshua is simply a leader, and has no
other theocratic power.
[Analysis: 1) The last will of Moses given in Deuteronomy; 2)
this beautiful book one of the most disputed; 3) the mysterious
death of Moses ; 4) his position a unique one.]
1 The view of some modern critics, that the finding of the book
of the law at the repairing of the temple under Josiah, in the year
624 B. c. (2 Kings 22), was-in truth the publication of Deuteron-
omy, which was only written a short time before, is contrary to
the fact that even the oldest prophets presuppose Deuteronomy,
its legislative provisions, and also its speeches. But the examin-
ation of the critical question of Deuteronomy, must be left to Old
Testament Introduction.
2 There are two men in the 0. T. of whom it is not said that
they died,— Enoch and Elijah. The Jewish legends sought to give
Moses a place beside these two persons. The position of the New
Testament to the death of Moses is peculiar. While Heb. 11: 40
says of the Old Covenant fathers, "that apart from us they
should not be made perfect," making their perfection dependent on
the completion of the New Testament work of redemption, — the
New Testament history of the transfiguration, where Moses ap-
pears with Elijah, Matt. 17: 3; Luke 9: 30, 31, presupposes Moses
as perfected for the heavenly life. If justice is done to all the
passages, we must say with Stier: "A wonderful exception is
made with the bodies of these two from the common lot of death ;
although the lawgiver actually died on account of sin, and the
prophet was already more nearly raised to the victory over
death" (Oehler).
^0 M0SAI8M.
§ 32. Occupation of Canaan. Extermination of the
Canaanites.
The passage of Jordan ensued in a miraculous way,
as a pledge to the people that the same mighty God
who was ^vith. Moses would reveal himself also under
the new leader (Josh. 4: 14, 22-24), and therefore
this event is expressly placed side by side with the
march through the Red Sea (Josh. 4: 23; Ps. 114: 3,
5). The key to the land was won by the conquest of
Jericho (Josh. 6). The cherem (ban, devotion as a
curse), enjoined in Deut. 7: 2; 20: 16-18, was execut-
ed on a number of Canaanitish towns. The Old Tes-
tament knows no other ground for the assignment of
the land to Israel than the free grace of Jehovah, to
whom it belonged ; and no other ground for the blot-
ting out of the Canaanite tribes than the divine jus-
tice which, after these tribes have filled up the measure
of their sins in unnatural abominations (Deut. 12:
31), breaks in at last in vengeance, after long waiting.
But Israel is threatened with exactly the same judg-
ment (Deut. 8: 19, 20; Josh. 23: 15, 16) if it become
guilty of the sins of the tribes on whom it executes the
divine judgment with the sword. ^
[Analysis : 1 ) The miraculous passage of the Jordan ; 2) the con-
quest of Jericho ; 3) the Cherem ; 4) the reason Canaan vvaB given
to Israel; 5) the reason assigned for the extermination of the
Canaanites.]
§ 33. Division of the Land. Character of the Promised
Land. Israel at the Close of this Period.
In the seventh year after their entrance (Josh. 14:
10), the Israelites began the division of the land, al-
though it was not yet in all parts completely van-
1 The extermination of the Canaanites has been defended in
many cases on very doubtful grounds. The view presented above
is alone in accordance with the Old Testament. It is quite un-
necessary to add any artificial apologetical considerations.
DIVISION OF THE LAND. 61
quished (Josh. 13: 2-6). Eleazar the priest, and
Joshua, with the chiefs of the tribes, managed the
business of division. ^ The division of the land was
carried out so that not merely the limits of the tribal
territories were fixed, but inside these also the districts
of the families. Thus the life of tribe and family re-
mained the basis of civil society. The separation
from the other peoples commanded in the law (see
especially Lev. 20: 24, 26) was made easier by the se-
cluded position of the land, which was enclosed on the
south and east by great wildernesses, on the north by
the high mountains of Lebanon, and which even on
the west was unfavorably situated for maritime inter-
course. On the other hand, by the situation of the
land in the midst of the cultivated nations which
figure in ancient history, as well as by means of the
great highways of the old Avorld which led past its bor-
ders, the future theocratic calling of the people was
made possible. A first consequence of the position of
Israel in the midst of nations was, that it courted
the powers of the world, and was chastised by all, so
that all became instruments of judgment on Israel.
But on the other side, it was this central position
which made this land fit for the starting-point of the
religion of the world.
Two parts of the promise given to the patriarchs
were fulfilled — the entrance of Israel into their rest in
the promised land, and the increase of the people like
the stars of heaven (Deut. 10: 22). But the dominion
over the nations (Gen. 27: 29; 49: 10) was not yet ob-
tained, the blessing of Abraham was not yet come to
the heathen ; nay, a new cycle of history must arise
in which centuries of contest for mere existence were
ordained for the people.
[Analysis: 1) The division of the land; 2) its secluded position ;
3) and vet central ; 4) the promise given to the patriarchs part-
ly fulfilled.]
1 The second part of the Book of Joshua is of immense value
for Biblical Geography.
SECTION II.
THE DOCTRINES OF MOSAISM.
§ 34. Survey.
The general subject of the Doctrines and Ordinan-
ces of Mosaism mil be discussed under the following
heads :
1. The Doctrines of Mosaism.
1) The Mosaic doctrine of God.
2) The Mosaic doctrine of the Creation and
Preservation of the world.
3) The Mosaic doctrine of Divine Providence.
4) The Mosaic doctrine of Revelation.
5) The Mosaic doctrine of the Nature of man.
6) The Mosaic doctrine of Death and the State
after Death.
2. The Ordinances of Mosaism.
1) The Divine Election.
2) Man's Obligation.
3) Divine Retribution.
3. The Theocracy.
1) Theocratic Organization of the People .
2) The Theocratic Authority.
3) The Organization of the Family.
4. The Mosaic Public Worship.
1) The Place of Worship.
2) The Actions of Worship.
3) The Times of Worship.
CHAPTER V.
THE MOSAIC DOCTRINE OF GOD.
§ 35. Survey.
The most general designations of the Divine Being
are El, Eloah, Elohim, El-Elyon, which names are also
made use of outside of the religion of the Old Testa-
ment. By these names Genesis gives only the general
characteristics of the divine nature. It is a mistake to
bring the theological divisions of a later period into
Biblical Theology, and to treat God's attributes ac-
cording to a preconceived scheme. Biblical Theology
traces the religion of revelation in its rise and de-
velopment, and finds for the definition of the idea of
God a gradually advancing series of statements con-
cerning the divine essence. But in these stages the
idea of God is so unfolded that the higher stages do
nqt destroy the lower, but embrace them.
The divine name El-Shaddai is the first that leads
into the sphere of revelation, but the divine name
which properly belongs to the Old Testament revela-
tion is Yahwe, Jehovah.
Analysis: 1) The most general names of God; 2) there is a
progress in revelation ; 3) El-Shaddai ; 4) Jehovah.]
§ 36. The Names El, Eloah, Elohim, El-Elyon.
1) El is the oldest Semitic name of God.^ As a name
of the true God, it is not frequent in the prose of tlie
1 Schultz: The 0. T. nowhere felt the need of proving the ex-
istence of God. . . The very existence of the religion of Israel was,
in fact, a proof of it. . . It could no more wish to prove the exist-
ence of God than an ordinary man feels the need of proving that
he himself exists (vol. 2, pp. 100, 101).
64 THE DOCTRINES OF MOSAlSM.
Old Testament. It hardly ever appears except vdth.
the article, or in connection mth a folio wing genitive,
or an attribute annexed in some other way. Its
original sense is "the pow^erful, the strong." The
name £/ also appears in a number of the oldest
names of men (Gen. 4: 18, Mehuja-el, Methusha-el) .
2) E/oah, the singular of Elohim, occurs in the Old
Testament almost exclusively in poetical language,
^^ith the exception of the later books composed under
Aramaic influence. It originally expresses the impres-
sion made by powder. Eloah is, according to this,
the power that awakens terror. That the natural
man finds himself, when confronted by the Divinity,
chiefly moved by a feeling of fear, is expressed in this
designation of God.
3) The most common designation of the Divine Be-
ing in the Old Testament is Elohim, the plural of Eloah.
This plural form is peculiar to the Old Testament,
and it appears as a name of God only in old Hebrew,
and in none of the other Semitic languages. The
meaning of the j^lural is not numerical, either in the
sense in which some older theologians understand it,
W' ho seek the mystery of the Trinity in the name ; ^ or
in the sense that the expression had originally a pol-
ytheisiic meaning, and only at a later period acquired
a singular sense ; or that originally the plural indi-
cated the one God together with the angels ; but it is
much better to explain Elohim, as the quantitative plu-
ral, which is used to denote unlimited greatness. The
plural signifies the infinite fulness of the might and
power which lies in the Divine Being, and thus passes
over into the intensive plural, as Delitzsch has named
1 But even this view has some truth at its foundation, since
the plural form, iudicating the inexhaustible fulness of the Divin-
ity, serves to combat the most daring enemy of the doctrine of
the Trinity— abstract monotheism.
THE NAMES EL, ELOAH, ELOHIM, EL-ELYON. 65
it.^ The plural contained in Adonai is to be explained
in the same way ; indeed, this plural of majesty has
also passed to other titles of God. Elohim remains all
through the Old Testament the generalname of God;
and is used with special emphasis in the Elohistic
Psalms.
As the name of the irue God, Elohim is regularly
joined with the singular. The exceptions are rare, and
can be explained from the context of the passages.
Elohim is God in his omnipotence, and as such He
is the God of the Gentiles also. He is designated
Elohim as the one who is in the highest degree to be
feared and reverenced, as absolute majesty and
power.
4) The divine name El-Elyon (God Most High) is also
used outside of the sphere of revelation. It occurs in
the history of Melchizedek (Gen. 14: 18), and it is
characteristic that it appears in the mouth of the
king of Babylon (Isa. 14: 14), probably to designate
Bel.
[Analysis: 1) The meamng of El; 2) the 0. T. takes the existence
oi God for granted; 3) the meaning of Eloah; 4) the significance
oi the plural form Elohim; 5) the definition of Schultz ; 6) the
significance of Elohim; 7) oi El-Elyon.]
1 Schultz: It is one of those plural forms by no means rare in
the case of words denoting power and majesty, which help to in-
crease the significance of the word, and to express the fulness of
power and majesty which is exclusively connected with unity of
person. Probably the significance of the word does not depend
directly on the idea of the strength, but on the notion of that
which is terrible, majestic, and adorable When the God ot
Israel is called Elohim, He is thereby simply described as Deity,
as possessor of a nature which is absolutely sublime, and to which
obedience and adoration are due from mortals (vol. 2, pp.
126, 127).
66 THE DOCTRINES OF MOSAISM
§ 37. El-Shaddai.
This name characterizes God as revealing Himself in
I Mis mights Delitzsch on Gen. 17: 1 forcibly says:
'^Elohim is the God who creates nature so that it is,
and supports it so that it continues ; El-Shaddai, the
God who compels nature to do what is contrary to
itself, and subdues it to bow and minister to grace."
But as soon as the name Jehovah unfolds its meaning,
the name El-Shaddai falls back on the one hand into
the list of the more general names of God.
[Analysis: 1) The meaning of El-Shaddai : 2) in what it differs
from Elohim.]
§ 38. Pronunciation and Grammatical Explanation of the
Name Jehovah. «
The word Jehovah in the Masoretic text of the Old
Testament has the vowel pointing of Adonai.^ How
old the dread of uttering the name is, cannot be ac-
curately fixed. The Jews maintain that the knowledge
of the true pronunciation has been entirely lost since
the destruction of the temple. Ex. 3: 13—15 is the
decisive passage for the pronunciation and gram-
matical explanation of the name. We must read
either J ah w eh or Jahwah. The first form is more
probable, and we must regard the word as a noun
1 Schultz: This word is meant to denote God as the absolutely-
mighty one whom no one can withstand, so that his followers
may fearlessly and confidently trust in him, and build their faith
upon him (vol. 2, p. 180).
2 SeeDalman: Studien zur biblischen Theologie, — der Gottesname
Adonai und seine Geschichte. Berlin 1889.
3 Schultz: The history of the pronunciation of this word is
singularly obscure. . , . The name "Jahve" was regarded by the
later age as a secret name of miraculous virtue, and as too holy
to be pronounced. . , . The growth of this awe, based perhaps on
Lev. 24: 11, 16, can still be traced in the old Rabbinic literature. . .
Even tradition throws little light on the original pronunciation
(vol. 2, pp. 131, 132).
THE SIGNIFICATION OF THE NAME JEHOVAH. 67
formed from the third person of the imperfect of
haw ah, the older form of hay ah (he was).^
[Analysis: 1) Pronunciation of the name Jehovah; 2) gram-
matical explanation] .
§ 39. The Signification of the Name Jehovah.
The name signifies He who is, according to Ex. 3:
14; more particularly, He who is what He is. God is
Jahweh in as far as he has entered into an historical
relation to mankind, and in particular to the chosen
people, Israel.
1) The name carries us into the sphere of divine
freedom. It expresses quite generally the absolute
independence of God in His dominion.
2) The name further conveys the idea of the ab-
solute//w/wtffa6/7/Y/ of God (Mai. 3: 6), and implies the
invariable faithfulness of God (Dent. 7: 9; Isa. 26: 4),
[Analysis: 1) Literal signification of Jahweh; 2) the name more
particularly expresses two ideas.]
§ 40. Age and Origin of the Name Jehovah.
Every attempt to derive the name from heathenism
rests on arbitrary h^ypotheses. The more exact de-
termination of the Old Testament origin of the name,
depends on the explanation of the passage in Ex. 6:
3. We are not to explain this as if the name Jehovah
had been entirely unknown to the patriarchs, and that
we have here the first revelation of the name; but
rather in this sense, that the name Jehovah had not
1 Schultz: xiccordingto Hebrew etymology the word must un-
doubtedly be connected with hayah in its older form hawah. . . But
the view of Schrader and Lagarde appears to me still more suit-
able. . . . They would refer it to a secondary conjugation and
take the Hiphil as the original form. Then J ah ve would be "he
who causes to be," the Creator; or if the signification being is
only the weakened form of the stronger "living," then "the be-
stower of life." . . . But even this view cannot be termed certain
(vol. 2, pp. 133, 134).
68 THE DOCTRINES OF MOSAISM.
been yet understood by the patriarchs, and that they
had not had the fu// experience of that \Yhichlies in the
name.^ The name, therefore, reaches back to prime-
val antiquity, and Avas not first introduced by
Moses. 2
[Analysis: 1) The name Jehovah not of heathen origin; 2) not
entirely unknown to the patriarchs; 3) though its full meaning
was not known to them; 4) the meaning of Ex. 6; 3; 5) five
reasons to prove the pre-Mosaic origin ol the name.]
§ 41. Comparison of the Name Jehovah with Elohim
and EL
In general, all universally cosmical action of God,
going out toward the heathen as well as toward Is-
rael in the creation and preservation of the world, is
traced to £/ and Elohim ; to Jehovah, on the other hand,
f is traced every divine act Avhich is connected with the
theocratic revelation and guidance, and which bears
on the heathen only in so far as their history stands
in relation to the aim of the divine kingdom. This
difference, however, from the nature of the case, is not
strictly kept up everywhere in the Old Testament in
the use of the names of God. But still it is plainly
apparent that the Old Testament writers had a very
definite consciousness of the indicated difference. ^
1 This would make the meaning of the passage correspond
exactly with Ex. 3: 15, and be analogous to the passage Ex.
33: 19.
2 In favor of this view we may present the iollowing reasons:
1) The name occurs in some of the most ancient documents in-
serted by Moses into the Book of Genesis; 2) the occurrence of prop-
er names compounded with Jah in Pre-Mosaic genealogies (Azariah,
1 Chron. 2: 8; Abiah, 1 Chron. 2: 24; Ahijah. 1 Chron. 2:25; Joche-
bed, the mother of Moses); 3) Abraham used it as an element in
a name, Gen. 22: 14; 4) it is most improbable that Moses should
bring to the people a revelation of the God of their fathersunder a
name of God quite unknown to them; 5) even Schultz, an expounder
of the negative critical theory, grants that "it is in itself more
likely that such a name was not invented but simplv found by
Moses" (vol. 2, p. 137).
3 It is well known that the first book of Psalms (Ps. 1—41) is
Jehovlstic, and the second (Ps. 42—72), Elohistic.
/
ATTRIBUTES OF GOD. 69
Theophany in general is predicated of Jehovah, who,
and not Elohim, holds intercourse with man in the
manner of men. Hence it comes that anthropo-
morphisms are almost always applied to Jehovah,
and not to Elohim.
[Analysis: 1) God is Elohim as his power is displayed in the
creation and preservation of the world; 2) .Fehovah as the Re-
deeming God; 3) theophany is predicated of Jehovah.]
§ 42. Attributes of God which are derived immediately
from the Idea of Jehovah.
1) Jehovah is an eternal God, the Everlasiing God, as
Abraham addresses Him in Gen. 21: 33 (compare
Dent. 32: 40). God's eternity is involved in His ab-
solute independence, in virtue whereof God is not con-
ditioned by anything which originates or decays in
time, but is the first and the last (Isa. 44: 6; 48: 12).
While God as Jehovah is the eternal, God's eternity is
defined as the unchangeableness of His being, continuing
throughout every change of time and thus it becomes the
basis of human confidence. ^
2) In the word Jehovah is involved the idea that He
is a living God (Gen. 16: 14; Deut. 5: 26). ^ He is
acknowledged as the living God in the midst of the
Delitzsch: "While Elohim is the more especially appropriate
name of the Creator, Jehovah designates more particularly the
God of history, and indeed of the history of Kedemption, hence
God the Redeemer. The combination of the two names denotes,
according to Ps. 100: 3, the oneness of the supermundane God
and the God of history, the oneness of God the Creator and the
God of Israel, or the God of positive revelation!" (Comm. on Gen.
2: 4).
1 Schultz: In the 0. T. conception of God, nothing stands out
from the first so strongly and unmistakably as the personality of
the God of Israel .... The God of the 0. T. ]s thoroughly self-con-
scious, independent of the world, free, personal. The writer of
Ex. 3: 14 takes the very name of the covenant God, Jehovah, to
mean that he is unchangeable self-existence, absolute personality
(vol. 2, p. 103).
2 On Gen. 16; 13 see my Studies in Genesis.
70 THE DOCTRINES OF MOSAISM.
conoTegation by his deeds of revelation (Josh. 3: 10),
and by his words of revelation (Jer. 23: 36). As a liv-
ing God he also enters with man into a relation of fel-
lowship which IS experienced by him inwardly, especial-
ly as a God who hears prayer, and hence the longing-
of the godly for the Hving God (Ps. 42- 2; 84: 2).^
3) Jehovah is the Lorcf,~my Lord (Adonai). Accord-
ing to the original meaning of Adonai (-^my Lord"),
there lies in it, not simply the acknowledgment of
the divine sovereignty in general, but also the con-
sciousness of specially belonging to God, the con-
sciousness of standing under his immediate guidance
and protection. 2
[Analysis: 1) Jehovah is the eternal God; 2) the name implies
His independence, 3) His unchangeableness; 4) His absolute per-
sonality; 5) the idea of the living God; 6) the meaning of
Adonai.]
§ 43. The Unity of God.
Monotheism forms one of the fundamental doc-
trines of Mosaism. Jehovah is one (Deut. 6: 4).
L) Some have maintained that the unity of God was
developed gradually from a polytheistic religion, but for
this there is no e\ddence whatever. ^ Passages like
Gen. 1: 27; 11: 7; 3: 22, cannot be cited in support
of this view.
2) Others again maintain that the Mosaic Jehovah
does not exclude the existence of other gods.
1 Schultz: He is the living God, the God of life, in whom life is
present as a property, and that, too, an inalienable property
(Deut. 5. 26; 32: 40; .Jer. 10; 10). (Vol. 2, p. 112).
2 Schultz: Adonai describes God as the Master to whom man
stands in the relation ot a servant. Gen. 18: 27. (Vol. 2, p. 129).
3 The whole exhibition of the Divine Being in the first ten
chapters of Genesis assumes most distinctly the universality of
the idea of God; and even after revelation has restricted itself to
one race, the divine training aims continually at awakening the
consciousness of this universality (Gen. 28: 15, 16).
FORMAL DEFINITION OF THE IDEA OF GOD. 71
It cannot be disputed that many of the Israelites ve-
garded Jehovah only as a god beside other gods of
the people, but it is equally clear, however, that this
view is always combated by the organs of revelation
as a perversion of the idea of Jehovah. Judaism is
certainly right in continually proclaiming the pas-
sage Deut. 6: 4 as the most holy word, which includes
the fundamental doctrine of monotheism. Of the two
admissible explanations of this passage, a) ''Hear, 0
Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord," and b) ''the
Lord our God, the Lord is one," the latter seems the
more correct. This passage together with Deut. 4:
35 and 4: 39, affirms the unity of God in the strictest
sense.
Another question has also been raised, whether the
gods of the heathen did not exist according to the
Old Testament, if not as gods, at least as living beings,
perhg.ps as demons, or evil angels. It is highly prob-
able t.hat in 1 Cor. 8: 4, 5; 10: 19, 20, Paul, when he
used the word demons in speaking of the Greek gods,
takes it from the lxx of Deut. 32: 17. According to
Paul the idols whom the Gentiles worshiped are the
demons or the evil angels, the servants and organs
of Sa ban; and it is through them, probably, that the
Devil has especial dominion over heathendom. ^
[Analysis: 1) Monotheism a fundamental doctrine of Mosaism;
2) the idea of God was universal ; 3) the unity of God was not
gradually developed from a polytheistic religion; 4) the 0. T. de-
cidedly excludes the idea that other gods rule side by side with
Jehovah; 5) the testimony of Deut. 4: 35, 39; 6: 4; 6) the gods of
the heathens are the evil angels.]
§ 44. Formal Definition of the Idea of God as the Holy One.
God is Kacfosh, the floly One. In virtue of its inex-
haustible signification, the divine holiness is one of
1 Schultz: In such passages as Deut. 32: 17 and Ps. 106: 37, the
heathen gods and demons seem to merge into one another. Azazel
is also an instance of the same kind (vol. 2, p. 275 note).
72 THE DOCTRINES OF MOSAISM.
the most difficult terms in the Bible to define. The
first declaration of the divine holiness is found in
Moses' song of praise, Ex. 15: 11 (glorious in holi-
ness).
When holiness is predicated of the covenant people
and covenant ordinances, two things are implied : 1)
being taken out of worldliness ; 2) being appropria-
ted by God. Whenever this character of holiness per-
tains to an3^thing, this never rests on a natural qual-
ity. The idea of natural purity and impurity does
not coincide with that of holiness and unholiness.
The holiness of the creature always goes back to an
act of the divine will. It is ahvays a state in which
the creature is bound to God by the appointment of
God himself.^
Where kadosh (holiness) is a designation of a divine
attribute, there evidently lies in it primarily a negative
element, by which it designates a state of apartness,
God raising Himself up above others. ^ God's holi-
ness is God's self-preservation, by virtue of which He
remains like Himself in all relations which either are
in Him or on which He enters in anyway, and neither
gives up any part of His divinity nor accepts any-
thing ungodly. Two things lie in the divine holiness,
1) that He stands in opposition to the world, and
again, 2) that He removes this opposition by choos-
ing in the world some w^hom He places in communion
with Himself (Isa. 57: 15).
All demonstrations of the divine covenant of grace
are the issues of the divine holiness.
[Analysis: 1) God is the Holy One; 2) two things are implied
when the word holy is applied to man ; 3) its meaning when ap-
plied to God; 4) two things lie in the divine holiness.]
1 Diestel : In the most exact sense of the word, nothing is holy
in and lor itself till the will of Jehovah declares it to be His prop-
erty (cited by Oehler).
» See Ex. 15: 11; Isa, 40; '^5; Ps. 99; 3-5; X S^m. 3: ?,
THE DIVINE HOLINESS. 73
§ 45. Fuller Definition of the Idea.
If, in order to come at the concrete side of the mat-
ter, we proceed from the question, what is the mean-
ing of God's sanctifying a people to Himself? — the answer
is, that it relates to a restoration of a perfect life,
both inwardly and outwardly. Now, if we argue
from this to the meaning of the divine holiness, it
may be defined concretely as an absolute perfection of
life, but essentially in an ethical sense. It is true, how-
ever, that the notions of divine holiness and glory are
related. We may say with Oetinger, holiness is hid-
den glory, and glory disclosed holiness.
On the whole, we may define the divine holiness as
mainly separation from the impurity and sinfulness of the
creature, or expressed positively, the clearness and
purity of the divine nature, which excludes all com-
munion with what is wicked. In this sense the sym-
bolical designation of the divine holiness is, that God
is light (Isa. 10: 17). The divine holiness, as a revealed
attribute, is not an abstract power, but is the divine
self-representation and self-testimony for the purpose
of giving to the world a participation in the perfec-
tion of the divine life.
Analysis: 1) The meaning of God's sanctifying a people to Him-
self; 2) the meaning of divine holiness; 3) divine holiness and
glory related ; 4) definition of divine holiness; 5) its symbolical
designation; 6) its significance as a revealed attribute.]
§ 46. Characteristics connected with Divine Holiness. 1.
Impossibility of Picturing God, Omnipresence, Spirituality.
1) Inasmuch as the divine holiness is the separate-
ness of the Divine Being from all finiteness of the
creature, it includes the impossibility of forming an image
of the Divine Being. From Deut. 4: 15-19 we learn
tha^t th© prohibition of representing God by any
74 THE DOCTRINES OF MOSAISM.
figure or form is absolute. ^ Neither can any argu-
ment contradictory to the utterances of the Old Tes-
tament as to the idea of God be drawn from anthropo-
morphisms,^ for no religion can dispense with such an-
thropomorphic expressions w^hen it enters into the
sphere of representative thought, and everything
depends on making it sure that the literal applica-
tion of such expressions shall be corrected by the
whole conception of the idea of God.^
2) It is self-evident that the Pentateuch regards
God, to whom the heaven and the heavens of heaven,
the earth and all that is upon it, belong (Deut. 10:
14), as omnipresent, even when such express delinea-
tions of omnipresence as in Ps. 139, are not found in
the Pentateuch. Compare, however, such passages as
Gen. 16: 13; 28: 15-17; 46: 4; etc. Beyond this, the
Pentateuch has mainly to do with the special presence
which God gives by living among His people, when He
localizes His face, His name, His glory— the so-called
Shekhina (see § 63).
3) The express declaration that God is spirit does
not occur in the Old Testament, which is rather ac-
customed to say that God has the spirit, and causes
it to go out from Him ; by which, however, the Spirit
is indicated as the element of God's life (Isa. 40: 13;
Ps. 139: 7; Isa. 31: 3). The absolute personalitj^ of
God is weightily expressed in the word "I am He"
(Deut. 32: 39; Isa. 43: 10).
[Analysis: 1) It is impossible to form an image of God; 2) also
directly forbidden ; 3) why anthropomorphisms are used; 4) God
is regarded as omnipresent; 5) His spirituality ; 6) His person-
ality.]
iSee also Ex. 20: 4; Deut. 5; 8.
2 Those expressions in the Scriptures in which parts of the hu-
man body, or more generally the senses, are transferred to God.
3 Schultz: In such expressions the activity of the living God is
simply defined after the manner of human acts. ...The 0. T. writers
sought to produce, in no doubtful fashion, the conception of a
living, personal, acting Go^. (Vol. 2, pp. 104, 105).
THE DIVINE RIGHTEOUSNESS. 75
§47. 2. The Divine Righteousness, Faithfulness, and Truth.
With the Divine hoHness in its ethical character are
connected the attributes of divine righteousness, divine
faithfulness and truth. These attributes are united in
the main passage, Deut. 32: 4.
1) God is righteous. The Hebrew word for righteous
(tsaddiq), expresses what is straight and right, in the
sense that God in His government always does what
is suitable; namely 1) what answers fully to His
aim ; and 2) what answers to the constitution of the
object of the divine action. Specially, but not ex-
clusively, the sphere in which this righteousness man-
ifests itself is the judicial activity of God.^
2) As in the idea of Jehovah, who is absolutely im-
mutable, so also in the idea of the Holy One in virtue
of its ethical meaning, the attribute of truth and faith-
fulness is given (compare Isa.49: 7; Hos. 11: 9).^ In
Schultz: The first attribute of moral perfection is righteous-
n es, that moral exactitude with which God applies the standard
(which He has within Himself) of perfect motives, without fear,
partiality, or selfishness, wherever His revelation finds expression.
Tsaddiq describes God as the mighty Rock on which the moral or-
der of the universe is founded, in which the pious may safely trust
for defence against the mighty wicked (Ps. 7: 9, 17). Faith in
God's righteousness the godly man must retain, in spite of all the
apparent success of injustice (Jer. 12:1). It is the pledge that
justice will triumph in the world (Isa. 42: 21; Ps. 119: 137)....
Where the righteousness of God is celebrated, it is combined w.ith
His "goodness," because he who is faithful to the covenant may
hope for salvation equally from both (Ps. 33: 5; 35: 28; 40: 10;
145: 7). There is never any antagonism between the goodness of
God and His righteousness. But God as the righteous one is of
course also the Judge of the world, before whom wickedness
meets its doom (Deut. 32: 4; Ps. 9: 4, 7, 8; 96; 13); the God who
sanctifies Himself by righteousness, and gives expression to His
righteousness by punishment (Isa. 5: 16; 10: 22). (Vol. 2, pp.
152, 153).
2 Schultz: Trustworthiness and truthfulness, together with
righteousness, are the main elements of human honesty, and are
the necessary foundation of confidence. Thus God is trustworthy,
in the very highest sense. He shows Himself so when He swears by
himself (Gen. 22: 16). His word which He. pledged to the fathers
He redeemed in every act of His providence.... He is true (2 Sam. 7;
76 THE DOCTRINES OF MOSAISM.
the Old Testament this attribute is specially empha-
sized in referring to the the divine word of promise, and
the agreement of the divine action there^dth. One of
the chief passages in the Pentateuch is Num. 23: 19.
(Compare 1 Sam. 15: 29; Ps. 36: 5).
[Analysis: 1) God is righteous; 2) meaning of tsaddiq ; 3) state-
ment of Scliultz; 4) God is the righteous judge; 5) God is trust-
worthy; 6) the faithfulness of God; 7) righteousness and faith-
fulness explain each other.]
§ 48. 3. The Jealous God.
In the idea of divine holiness is included that God
is a Jealous God (Ex. 34: 14; Deut. 6: 15). The divine
zeal is the energy of the divine holiness. The divine zeal
has a twofold form :
1) It turns itself avengingly against every viola-
tion of the divine will. God's jealousy turns especial-
ly against idolatry (Deut. 32: 21), and generally
against all sin by which God's holy name is desecrat-
ed. Thus the divine yea/of/s/ manifests itself as divine
wrath. For the wrath of God is the most intense
energy of the holy will of God, the zeal of His wound-
ed love. On the connection of the two ideas, jealousy
and wrath, compare Deut. 6: 15; 32: 21, 22; Ps. 78:
58, 59.
As wrath is a manifestation of divine holiness, the
occasion of its outburst does not lie in a capricious
divine humor or natural malignity, but wholly in the
person smitten by it. If man denies and rejects the
testimony of the holy God which Avas given to him,
justice must be executed upon him in his resistance of
28); His words are pure (Ps. 12: 6); He hateth falsehood (Prov.
15: 26); what he says he really means. On this depend both the
the law and the prophecies. References to God's fidelity and truth
are uncommonly frequent all through the O. T. In many instan-
ces righteousness and faithfulness are synonymous, or, at any
rate, they explain each other (Ps. 36: 5, 6; 96: 13: 143: 1). (Vol.
2, pp. 156, 157).
THE JEALOUS GOD. 77
God's will, which alone is in the right, by his being
reduced to his own nothingness. But the manifesta-
tion of wrath also receives its measure from divine
hohness, which measure is ordained by the divine aim
of salvation, and hence it is not the sway of blind
passion (Hos. 11: 9; Jer. 10: 24; and the parable in
Isa. 28: 23-29).
2) Jehovah is Jealous not for Himself alone, but
also for His holy people, so far as they are in a posi-
tion of grace, or are taken into favor again by Him.
From this side His jealousy is the zeal of love as an
energetic vindication of the unmatched relation in
which God has placed His people to Himself. The
anthropopaihies^ of the Old Testament come for the
most part under this heading.
[Analysis; 1) Divine jealousy is the energy of the divine holiness; 2)
this jealousy manifests itself as divine wrath; 3) definition of the
wrath of God; 4) the occasion of its manifestation; 5) receives
its measure from divine holiness; 6) His jealousy is the zeal of
love; 7) the meaning of the anthropopathies of the 0. T.; 8)
do not express a change in the divine nature.]
1 Those declarations concerning God in whieh human emo-
tions, and changes in these emotions, are attributed to God. These
expressions refer to a change of the relation in which the divme
holiness, which is in itself changeless, enters into with changeable
man The Old Testament does not suppose that a change m
the divine nature itself takes place. Compare 1 Sam 15: 29 with
V. 35. Such anthropopathies serve to keep wakeful and strong
the consciousness of the living, holy God (Oehler).
CHAPTER VI.
THE MOSAIC DOCTRINE OF THE CREATION AND PRESER-
VATION OF THE WORLD.
§ 49. General Survey.
The existence of the world as absolutely due to the
divine causality is presented in three propositions :
1) When reflection is directed to ihe existence of the
world, both as to its beginning and as to its subsis-
tence, we reach the doctrine of the Creation and Preser-
vation of the world.
2) When we consider how the world is so, and not
othermse, we get the doctrine of the aim of the world
and of divine Providence, with which is connected the
question of the relation of the divine causality to the
wickedness and evii in the world.
3) For the realization of His aim, God enters vn a
peculiar relation to the world; the means by which (}od
brings about this His special relation to the world
are exhibited in the doctrine of Revelation.
These three topics vill be fully discussed in the next
three chapters.
§ 50. Creation by the Word.
The Mosaic doctrine of creation rests on two fun-
damental thoughts: 1) that the production of the
world proceeded from the Word; and 2) from the Spirit
of God.^
1 Schultz: God is represented as connected with existence out-
side of Himself by the concept of "the Spirit and the Word of God."
....His Word creates the world,— that is, God's inner world ot
thought becomes through His will, the source of life outside oJ
himself. (Vol. 2, p. 184).
THE DIVINE SPIRIT IN CREATION. 79
The form of the creation of the world is the speak-
ing, or the Word of God ; this means that the world
originated through a conscious, free, divine act. This ex-
cludes 1) every theory of the origin of the world
by emanation; and 2) the assumption of an eternal
elementary matter independent of God.
The first verse of Genesis is not to be considered as
a title, a summary statement of the contents of the
chapter, but rather a declaration of the primordial
creation of the matter of the universe.
The central idea is creation, and the Hebrew word
bara here used, always means the production of some-
thing new which has not had a previous existence.
It is clear that Mosaism places itself above all
natural religions by the declaration, ''In the begin-
ing God created the heaven and the earth."
[Analysis: 1) The Mosaic doctrine of Creation rests on two
tacts; 2) the form of the creation; 3) this excludes certain the-
ories of the orig:in of the world; 4) Gen. 1: 1 is not a superscrip-
tion; 5) the meaning of bara; 6) the 0. T. religion not a natural
religion.}
§ 51. The Divine Spirit in Creation.
Since the world is placed outside of God, it origin-
ated and subsists only by the life imparted to it by
His Spirit; thus it is not separated from Him, al-
though distinct from Him.^
1 Schultz: The teaching of the narrative in Genesis may be summed
up as follows:
"1. God and the world are distinct. The sum of Being outside
God is an object upon which God acts; it exists therefore apart
from God.
2. God and the world are not independent.... The laws of the
world are an expression of the divine will. The earth brings forth
at God's Word and command, obeying his will and fulfilling it bv
her order. Between the order of nature and the will of the living
God there is no antagonism.
3. ^ God and the world are not antagonistic. It places itself at
God's command, so that He can make everything 'very good;'
and He, on His part, rejoices over it and blesses the creatures on it"
(Vol. 2, pp. 188, 189).
80 THE DOCTRINES OF MOSAISM.
The life of the creature, according to the record of
creation does not proceed from the chaotic mass; but
life comes from God (Ps. 3G: 9). That the Spirit of
God really acts in the creative word, and that it is
itself endued with the power of life, is indicated by the
expression in Ps. 33: 6, where the Spirit is character-
ized as the Spirit of the divine mouth ; it lies also in
Isa. 40: 13, that the Divine Spirit acting in the crea-
tion is a consciously Avorking and intelligent power,
as, according to Ps. 139: 7, the divine omnipresence in
the world acts by means of the all penetrating Spirit
of God. Creature life proceeds from God, but it does
not flow from God ; it is imparted freely by God to
the creature (Isa 42: 5). It is not a life which God
lives in the creature, but a relatively independent life
of the creature, derived from God.
[Analysis: 1) God and the world are distinct; 2) God and the
world are not independent; 3) God and the world in the act of
creation are not antagonistic; 4) life conies from God; 5) the
Spirit acting in creation is a consciously working and intelligent
power; 6) the life in the creature, though derived from God, is a
relatively independent life.]
§ 52. On the Preservation of the World.
1) The preservation of the world is, on the one
hand, distinguished in the Old Testament from its
creation, inasmuch, as, according to Gen. 2: 2, the
production of the classes of creatures has a conclu-
sion, which is formed by the Sabbath of creation;
while on the other hand, the agency of God in this
preservation is represented as a continuous creation.^
2) The continuance of this system of the world is
established at each moment by the divine omnipo-
tence. The preservation of the world rests continually on
1 Schultz: In the growth of individual creatures, creation and
preservation run into each other.. ..The development and contin-
ued existence of the creature is dependent on the continuance of
God's creative activity (Vol. 2, p. 189).
ON THE PRESERVATION OF THE WORLD. 81
the same foundation as the creation, on God's Word of
command, which He continually sends forth (Ps. 147:
15-18); and it rests just as continually on the Divine
Spirit, which He causes ever to go forth (Ps. 104: 29,
30). This last passage shows how the preservation
of the creature can be looked at from the point of
view of a continuous creation; and this thought, that a
creative working of God goes on in the preservation
of creation, is in general imprinted in various forms
on the Old Testament phraseology (Ex. 4: 11; Isa.
42:5). The Psalm of creation (Ps. 104), by using
participles in verse 2, characterizes the creative agen-
cy of God as an agency which continues to work in
the preservation of the world.
[Analysis: 1) Preservation may be regarded as a continuous
creation; 2) it rests on God's Word of command; 3) the Psalm
of creation.]
CHAPTEK VII.
THE MOSAIC DOCTRINE OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE.
§53. The Design of Creation, and its Realization through
Providence.
That a divine plan is to be realized in the world, and
that the divine creation is therefore a teleological act,
is shown in the account of the creation. In all His creat-
ing God approves the works of His hands ; but still
the creating* God does not reach the goal of His crea-
tion until He has set over against Him His inifige in
man. From this last fact it is plain that th/,* self-
revelation of God, the unveiling of His Being, is the
final end of the creation of the world ; or to ex|j)ress it
more generally, that the whole world serves tc / reveal
the divine glory, and is thereby the object of divine
joy (Ps. 104: 31).
But in mankind the aim of the creation of the
world, the glorifying of God, was disturbed \')y sin.
But in spite of the dominion of sin, the divine e^im in
the world shall come to its realization (Num. 14; 21 ).
The choosing of the race through which God's bless-
ing shall come on all races of the earth (Gen. 12: 3;
18: 18), serves this divine aim.
It is clear that the Old Testament teaches a provi-
dence which embraces everything, since it subjecil^s
everything to the divine direction (Ps. 65: 2). The
divine providence extends also to the animals (Ps.
104: 21, 27; Job 38: 41; Ps. 147: 9). No sphere of
chance exists in the Old Testament. From Ex. 21:
RELATION OF THE DIVINE CAUSALITY TO EVIL. 83
13, we infer that even what men call accidental death
is under God's direction. Even in dra^Ying lots "the
lot is cast into the lap ; but the whole disposing there-
of is of the Lord" (Prov. 16: 33).
[Analysis: 1) The divine creation is a teleological act; 2) the
final aim is the self-revelation of God; 3) and the manifestation
ot the divine glory; 4) this gloriiying of God was disturbed by
sin; 5) but the divine aim shall be realized; 6) the choosing of
Israel serves this aim.]
§ 54. Relation of the Divine Causality to Moral and
Physical Evil.
Moral and physical evil were not originally in the
world. The latter was penally ordained (Gen. 3: 17-
19) after the former had entered the world by the free
a,ct of man, and from this time forward both form
aiU element of the order of the world.
1) Physical evil in the Old Testament is regarded as
punishment for sin, or divine judgment. In the Pen-
tateuch it is taught that the evil in man's life is also
8. means of proving him, especially of proving his obedi-
ence and his trust in God, and thus a means of purify-
ing him. According to Deut. 8: 2, 3, the privations
endured in the wilderness were meant to be a school
of humility and faith, that the people might learn to
trust to the power of the Almighty God.
2) But also, even in moral evil, in man's sin, the di-
vine causality operates, and this it does in various
ways.
Man's sin cannot thwart the divine purpose of salva-
tion ; it must rather serve to the realization thereof
(Gen. 45: 8; 50: 20).
The wickedness of some must serve to prove and
])urify others, that it may be known whether they are
strong to stand against it (Deut. 13: 3).
But a divine causality works also in regard to the
84 THE DOCTRINES OF MOSAISM.
sinner himself, and for various ends. God permits one
who habitually walks in God's ways to fall into sin
in order to try him, to reveal to him a hidden curse in
his heart, and so to bring to its issue a merited judg-
ment, and thus bring God's justice to light. Compare
2 Sam. 24 (the numbering of the people); 2 Chron.
32: 31.
On another, who internally cherishes sin within
him, and wilfullj^ strives against God, the divine caus-
ality acts by giving him up to sin, so that sinning be-
comes necessary to this man, and he must glorify
God by the judgment which he has incurred. This is
the hardening of the heart of a man, so often spoken of
in the Pentateuch, Ex. 4: 21; 7: 3 (Pharaoh); Deut.
2: 30 (Sihon); etc.
The expressions used to denote hardening of the
heart cannot be referred to a simply negative relation
to T^ickedness ; but still man's sin is not removed be-
cause a positive divine agency rules in his hardening.
Man can indeed do nothing that would not on the one
side be God's work (Lam. 3: 37, 38), and yet he must
acknowledge sin as his guilt (Lam. 3: 39). Isa. 45: 7
(a passage possibly directed against the dualism of
the Persian religion) shows especially how the Monism
of the Old Testament permitted nothing to be Avith-
drawn from the divine causality.
[Analysis: 1) Physical evil is punishment for sin ; 2) its aim is
to purify man; 3) the divine causality operates even in moral
evil ; 4) sin is made subservient to the purpose of salvation ; 5)
hardening of the heart.]
CHAPTER yill.
THE MOSAIC DOCTRINE OF REVELATION.
§ 55. Introductory Remarks and General View.
1) Although God has made Himself known in genera
revelation (see § 6), He nevertheless makes* Himself
knoA^Ti in a more special sense, in which He is pleased
to enter into the limits of the sphere of the creature,
in order to present Himself personally, and to give
testimony of Himself to man. This side of the revela-
tion of the Divine Being is characterized as the divine
name, the divine presence and the divine glory.
2) The forms and vehicles in which this divine self-
presentation and self- witness reaches man from without
are 1) the voice, 2) the Malakh or Angel, 3) the Shekhina
in the sanctuary, and 4) miracle. The divine self-
witness enters the heart of man by means of the
Spirit.
[Analysis: 1) Distinction between general and special revelation ;
j) tour ways through which revelation reaches man from without:
»i) the internal revelation.]
§ 56. The Revelation of the Divine Name.
The true God can be named by man only so far as
He reveals Himself to man and discloses to him His
nature. God names Himself according to the relation
in which He has placed Himself to man, and accord-
ing to the attributes by which He wishes to be ac-
knowledged, known and addressed by man. In short,
God names Himself, not according to what He is for
Himself, but according to what He i§ for mgn; and there.
86 THE DOCTRINES OF MOSAISM.
fore every self-presentation of God in the world is ex-
pressed by a corresponding name of God, as we have
already seen (see § 36-39). In the New Testament stage,
when the only begotten Son has revealed God's name
to man (John 17: 6), it is God's good pleasure to be
named the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, or, to express
universall}^ the now completed relation of salvation,
by the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost (Matt.
28: 19).
The expression "name of God" is not merely a title,
but at the same time the whole divine self-presenta-
tion by which God in personal presence testifies of
Himself — the whole side of the divine nature which is turned
toward man. It designates every manifestation of the
Divine Being which attaches to places, institutions,
and facts, in virtue of which God gives His people
a direct experience of Himself. Wherever God is
known and experienced in personal presence, there His
name is.
Accordingly the name of God is certainly not the
ideal existence of God in the consciousness of the cre-
ated spirit, but an objective existence, independent of
man's subjectivity.
[Analysis: 1) We can only name God in so far as he reveals Him-
self; 2) God names Himself in what He is for man; 3) His most
glorious name given in theN. T.; 4) signification of "name of
God;" 5) where His personal presence is manifested there is His
name.]
§ 57. The Divine Countenance and the Divine Glory.
That by which God is present among His people is
further styled the divine countenance (presence). Ex.
33: 14-16 is the main passage.
By the face of God is meant, in distinction from His
ti'anscendent and infinite nature, His coming down into
the sphere of the created, whereby He can be brought with-
THE DIVINE COUNTENANCE. 87
in the immediate know/edge of man. Here belongs Deut.
4: 37, where it is said that Jehovah brought Israel
out of Egypt by His countenance (with His presence) .
Only from this, too, is the full meaning of the high
priest's blessing rightly understood. Num. 6: 24-26.
Finally, for name and countenance the indefinite
expression, g/ory of Jehovah is used (Ex. 33: 18). ^ In
the same way, it is the glory of Jehovah through which
Jehovah appears to His people on Mount Sinai, under
cover of the cloud (Ex. 24: 16), and which is present
in the holy tabernacle (Ex. 40: 34).
[Analysis: 1) Meaning of the divine countenance; 2) of Num. 6:
24—26; 3) meaning of "the glory of Jehovah."]
§ 58. The Divine Voice as a Form of Revelation.
As divine speech is in general the form of divine
working in the world, so the Word is the most general
form of divine revelation. So far as this Word of God
comes internally to the organs of revelation, it coin-
cides with the revelation which is effected by the
Spirit (compare § 65). But the Old Testament speci-
fies also among its mediums of revelation the out-
wardly audible voice; indeed, in Deut. 4: 12, special
weight is laid upon this form of revelation.
With this was connected in the latter Jewish theol-
ogy the doctrine of the Bath-Kol, or revelations by
means of heavenly voices, such as Elijah received.
The expression ^aM-ATo/ (daughter of the voice) means
that the divine voice itself is not heard, but only its
working, or else that Kol designates the heavenly
1 Schultz: What the religion of Israel denotes by this word is
certainly, in the first instance, the actual presence of the God of
light— God's revealed glory as it appears to his favored ones in all
its grandeur and majesty (Ex. 33; 22; 24: 16). ...Generally the
phrase denotes the special majesty of God's revealed Being, the
perfect fulness of his Godhead, which the creature has to acknowl-
edge, praise and glorify (Vol. 2, pp. 172, 173).
88 THE DOCTRINES OF MOSAISM.
voice itself, and Baih-Kol its echo. This form of reve-
lation appears in the New Testament in Matt. 3 : 17;
17: 5; John 12: 28; and very frequently in the Apo-
calypse.
[Analysis: 1) Revelation is generally by means of the Word ;
2) mention is made of the audible voice; 3) the doctrine of the
Bath-Kol; 4) this form of revelation appears in the New Testa-
ment.]
§ 59. The Doctrine of the Angel of the Lord, of the Covenant,
of the Countenance.* The Exegetical State of the Case.
In a more concrete form God manifests Himself in
the Malakh (angel), generally called Malakh Jehovah.
The principal passages are :
1) Gen. 16: 7-14, where the Malakh appears to
Hagar.
2) Gen. 18: 1-33, where one of the three men
(angels) is expressly distinguished as Jehovah (vv.
20, 26, etc.) from the tAVO others who are called angels
(Gen. 19: 1), and are said (Gen. 19: 13) to be sent by
Jehovah.
3) Gen. 22: 11, 12, where the Malakh Jehovah calls to
Abraham from heaven as if he were God Himself.
4) Gen. 31: 11-13, where the Malakh Jehovah calls
himself "the God of Bethel."
5) Gen. 32: 29-31, where the man (angel) with
which Jacob A\Testles is designated as an appearance
of God.
6) Gen. 48: 15, 16, where God is identified with
the Malakh.
7) Ex. 3: 2, and the follo^dng narrative, where the
Malakh Jehovah is identified with Jehovah and Elohim.
1 The doctrine of the Angel of the Lord is one of the most import-
ant and difficult points in the Old Testament, on which, even as
early as the Church Fathers, there were various views, and about
which, to this day, no agreement has been reached. The litera-
ture is enormously rich.
THE ANGEL OF THE LORD. 89
8) in Ex. 13: 21 it is said that Jehovah went before
Israel; on the other hand in Ex. 14: 19 we read that "^
it was the Malakh.
9) Josh. 5: 14, 15; 6: 2, where the prince of the
army of Jehovah appears to Joshua.
§ 60. The Different Interpretations.
The following main views are to be distinguished :
1) The view taken in the early ages of the church
by Augustine, Jerome, and Gregory the Great; in
our day with special modifications by Hofmann, from
whom it has been adopted by Kurtz and Delitzsch
(though Delitzsch holds the view with peculiar indeci-
sion)—that an angel is to be understood by the Ma-
lakh, a finiie spirit under subjection to God, which ex-
ecutes the divine command in the cases mentioned.
But this first view occurs in two forms, a) Some hold
that the Malakh is an angel specially deputed by God
from among the number of Malakhim for each separate
occasion, and that we have no means of deciding
whether he is always the same angel or not ; b) others
maintain (principally Hofmann) that it is one and the
same angel through whom God stands in relation to
the people of revelation from the beginning to the
end of the Old Testament— the special angel who rules
in the commonwealth and history of this people, the
archangel Michael of the book of Daniel.
2) The second principal view is that the Malakh of
Jehovah is a self -representation of Jehovah entering into
the sphere of the creature, and is one in essence with Je-
hovah.^
1 Schultz: In all the passages where it is stated that the angel
of God appeared and spoke, it is also assumed, without further ex-
planation, that the personal covenant God Himself appeared and
spoke ...When God wishes to communicate His will for the pur-
pose of making men conscious of it, He requires the revealing form
y
90 THE DOCTRINE^ OB" MOSAISM.
There are different forms of this view, but the most
important is the one ^Yhich regards the Malakh as the
Logos, the second person of the Godhead in the sense of
tlie Christian doctrine of tlie Trinity. This is the view
of the most of the Greek Fathers, of Justin, Irenaeus?
Tertullian, Cyprian, and Eusebius. At a later period
this was the view of the Lutheran theologians ; and
in our own day has been defended by Hengstenberg
and others.
Oehler maintains that the doctrine of the Malakh
in the Old Testament oscillates in a pecuhar manner
between its conception of the angel, as a form and as
a being, so that it seems impossible to bring the mat-
ter to a definite intelligible expression. He states,
however, that the case has a different aspect from the
standpoint of the New Testament. From this (see
especially 1 Cor. 10: 4) it is the Logos, the Son of God
through whom revelations to Israel are made, and
who therefore works in the Malakh. But nowhere in
the New Testament is the Son of God so identified
with the Malakh as if His incarnation had been pre-
ceded by His permanently becoming an angel. The
Logos, according to the New Testament view, works
also in the other forms of revelation in the Old Cove-
nant and in just the same Avay as in the form of the
Malakh.
In the later Jemsh theology, the doctrine of the
Metathron (sharer of the throne),— the Prince of the
to be a person who thinks and speaks. He reveals Himself
through "angels.". ...But the Angel of God is he in whom God
makes known to man, for special ends, His whole being and will.
The form of manifestation here also is a personal being, who is
not God. But what this being is, is of absolutely no consequence
...There is however,undoubtedly in the angel of God something of
that which Christian theology means to express by the doctrine
of the Logos. Only the self-revealing life of God is not yet human,
nor does it yet exist as a permanent personal life (Vol. 2, pp.
220—223).
OTHER POINTS OF THE MOSAIC ANGELOLOQY. ^1
countenance, who is the revealer of God, the mediator
between God and the creature,— is developed out of
the Old Testament doctrine of the Angel of the Lord.
[Analysis: 1) Some understand by the Malakh a finite, created
angel; 2) two forms of this view ; 3) others regard the Malakh
a self-representation of Jehovah ; 4) the view held by Schultz; 5)
the Malakh may be regarded as a manifestation of the second
person of the Trinity; 6) Oehler's view; 7) the New Testament
interpretation.]
§ 61. Other Points of the Mosaic Angelology.
Even in the Pentateuch, though there comparative-
ly seldom, other angels of God appear side by side
with the^Malakh. Nothing is said about their crea-
tion ; nor are they mentioned in the account of the
creation of the earth, and its completion in man, al-
though it is implied in Gen. 2: 1. On the contrary
Job 38: 7 presupposes the existence of the angels
when the earth was created. Gen. 6: 1-4 would be
entirely without a parallel, not only in the Penta-
teuch, but in the whole Old Testament, if higher
spirits are to be understood by the Sons of God. The
question is : Are the Sons of God, Sethites, or, are
they higher spirits ? and is a fall of the angels here
spoken of ? At present the hypothesis of the fall of
the angels is the most widely spread (so Hofmann,
Kurtz, Delitzsch), a view which originally sprang
from the book of Enoch. But Oehler (with the Ke-
formers, and in more modern times Hengstenberg,
Keil, and others), rightly refers the expression "sons
of God" to men, to the pious race descended from Seth,
as the name "Sons of God" is used in Deut. 14: 1; 32:
5; Hos. 1: 10; Ps. 73: 15. i
In comparison with the later books of the Old Tes-
1 On this view the passage refers to the marriage of Seth's
descendants with Cainitic women, by which means the corrup-
tion of Cain's race spread among the Sethites.
92 THE DOCTRINES OF MOSAISM.
tament, the angelology of the Pentateuch is but little
developed.
[Analysis: 1) The creation of angels implied in Gen. 2: 1; 2)
created before the earth ; 3) meaning of Gen. 6: 1—4; 4) angelol-
ogy but little developed in the Pentateuch.]
§ 62.TheShekhina.
The continuous localization of the divine presence
was made in the Shekhina, {shakhan, he dwelt, resided),
that is, the dwelling of God, distinguished from pass-
ing theophanies by virtue of its countenance. The
first abode of the divine Shekhina, according to the
Old Testament, was Eden, as appears from the whole
description in Gen. 2 and 3, but in particular from
the mention of the cherubim (Gen. 3: 24), which Avere
bearers of the divine presence. The book of Genesis
seems to suggest the idea that the dwelling place of
the glory and the countenance of God continued there
upon the earth until the judgment of the flood came
on the world. Then after the flood God revealed
Himself for the first time from heaven. At a later
time, God's dwelling among His people was in the
sanctuary (Ex. 40: 34-38). Here now is God's coun-
tenance (Ex. 23: 17; Deut. 31: 11; Ps. 42: 2; 63:
3). From passages such as Lev. 9: 24; 10: 2, the
Shekhina shows its reality in the sanctuary by means
of acts of power which go out from it. The Shekhina
of God on earth corresponds to His dwelling in
heaven (1 Kings 8: 30, 39, 49), which, like that in the
sanctuary, is definitely distinguished from the pres-
ence of God, which embraces the whole universe (1
Kings 8: 27).
According to this presentation, God's dwelling is
outside the human subject. The idea of the divine
habitation is not applied to the sending of the divine
THB DOCTRINE OT MIRACLE. 03
Spirit into the heart of man. The New Testament
(John 1: 14) is the first to place the divine Shekhina
in a human person, in the Logos become flesh, and
then it speaks of God's making His abode with be-
Hevers (John 14: 23). Still the proper Shekhina of
God in heaven appears again in the Apocalypse (Rev.
7: 15), and the aim of the Divine Kingdom is said to
be the dwelling of God on the glorified earth (Rev. 21:
3). See also Jer. 3: 16-18.
[Analysis: 1) Meaning of Shekhina; 2) God's first dwelling-
place was Eden ; 3) later on in the sanctuary; 4) the teaching of
the New Testament ; 5) of Revelation.]
§63. The Doctrine of Miracle. Its Appearance in History
and Various Names.
By miracles, the Old Testament understands mani-
festations of the divine power in the objective world,
both in nature and history. 1 It is characteristic of
the course of Old Testament revelation, that no real
miracle — wrought by man's agency— is related in the
time of the pafriarchs. Moses is the first organ of revela-
tion endowed with the gift of performing miracles.
They occur chiefly when the point in question is to
give testimony for the reality of the God revealed in
Israel, in opposition to heathenism.
The closer definition of the notion of miracles fol-
lows mainly from the names for a miracle:
1) The most general expression pe-le, niphlaoth,
characterizes a miracle in its negative aspect, as an
occurrence withdrawn from the common course of
things, and thus an extraordinary occurrence. In the
New Testament this negative characteristic of a
1 Schultz: The whole 0. T. regards the miraculous as a matter
of course.. ..The essence of a miracle is not that it is "unnatural,"
but that it is a specially clear and striking proof of God's power,
and of the freedom he exercises in furthering his objects (Vol. 2,
pp. 192, 193).
94 THE DOCTRINES OF MOSAISM.
miracle is denoted by the expression teras [ierata,
only in the plural) .
2) The positive side of a miracle is expressed in the
term gebhuroth (mighty deeds), corresponding to the
New Testament dy name is, indications of divine power.
Side by side with which there appears the more gen-
eral emphatic expression ma-asim, or more frequently,
'a/i/oth, the great deeds, corresponding to erga in
John. According to this, a miracle w^ould mainly be
a divine act of power, exempt from the common course of
nature and history.
3) But the full idea is expressed only by its ieleo log-
ical designation as 'oth (sign),i the semeion of the New
Testament, according to which its meaning is, an in-
dication of something higher and divine, and so to serve a
definite divine aim.
[Analysis: 1) Definition of miracle; 2) time of occurrence; 3) ex-
planation of names for miracles.]
§ 64. More exact Definition of Miracles.
The more exact definition of miracles in the more
limited sense is given by the more exact definition of
the aim of miracles, namely, that miracles serve to
reveal God in His Kingdom. Miracles, in the stricter
sense, are extraordinary manifestations and occurrences, in
which God makes known His power for the purposes of His
Kingdom in a unique manner,
§ 65. Of the Spirit of God.
God reveals Himself in the heart of man by His
Spirit (ruach). As the principle of cosmical life, els ruach
Elohim, as the mighty divine force of all things, the
J Schultz: The chief use of the miracle is to convince, to act as
a sign ('oth) that the living God is in the midst of His people, as a
pledge hy which God, as the absolutely supernatural, attests the
commission of His messengers, and confirms their words (vol. 2,
pp. 195, 196).
THE SPIRIT OF GOD. 95
Spirit is the principle of the life of man's soul, and
every natural intellectual gift in man is traced back
to it. (Joseph's msdom, Gen. 41: 38; Bezaleel's skill
in art, Ex. 31: 3; 35: 31.) From Gen. 6: 3 Ave learn
that the Spirit of God has also an ethical significa-
tion; for, according to this passage, the government
of God's Spirit is hampered by the errors of mankind.
The Spirit as ruach Jehovah only acts within the
sphere of revelation. In the Old Testament, the Spirit's
work in the divine kingdom is rather that of endowing
the organs of the theocracy with the gifts required for their
calling, and these gifts of office in the Old Testament
are similar to the gifts of grace in the New Testament
(1 Cor. 12). In the Pentateuch its working appears
exclusively in this connection. The Spirit bestows on
Moses and the 70 elders skill to guide the people
(Num. 11: 17), also on Joshua (Num. 27: 18; Deut.
84: 9). As the Spirit of revelation. He produces in
particular the gift of prophecy (Num. 11: 25); and
even as ruach Elohim imparts ability to prophesy to
the heathen Balaam (Num. 24: 2), by which means
he is made an organ of the revealing God against his
will (Num. 22: 38).
The Spirit, however, does not appear in the Penta-
teuch as the principle of Sanctification in the pious; this
is first spoken of in the Psalms (Ps. 51: 10-12;
143: 10). j
Now this Spirit is represented as a power proceeding
from Jehovah, a something communicated by Him, which
clings to the person to whom it is communicated ^
(Num. 11: 17, 25).
The relation of the Spirit of revelation to the human spirit
1 Though we must not read the New Testament doctrine of
the Trinity into the Old Testament, it is yet undeniable that we
find the way to the doctrine of the Trinity already prepared in the
doctrine of the Malakh and of the Spirit.
96 THE DOCTRINES OP MOSAISM.
is characterized in a way that makes it clear why a
full indwelling of the Spirit in man, a penetration of
the human spirit by the Holy Spirit, is not reached in
the Old Testament, but only a working on the human
mind.
[Analysis: 1) The Spirit is the principle of the life of man's soul ;
2) distinction between ruach Elohim and ruach Jehovah; 3) the
doctrine of the Spirit in the Pentateuch ; 4) the Psalms speak of
the Spirit as the principle of sanctification; 5) distinction be-
tween the divine Spirit and the human spirit.]
§ 66. The Psychical States of the Organs of Revelation.
As )OS/c^/ca/s/afes in which the reception of revela-
tion by man takes place, the principal passage (Num.
12: 6-8) names 1) ihe dream; 2) the vision; 3) ihe im-
mediate sight of the Divinity as given to Moses, which
stands higher than the other two.
1) Dreams appear in the Old Testament, as in an-
tiquity generally, as the vehicle of divine elevation,
but only in a subordinate way, and as the lowest
form of revelation (1 Sam. 28: 6; Jer. 23: 28).
2) Visions presuppose a previous revelation of the
life of the soul into an extraordinary state, as is
made prominent in the first narrative in which a
vision appears (in Gen. 15, mth Abraham). Still the
difference between a dream and a vision may be re-
garded as not sharply marked. By these two forms
God speaks, as is said in Num. 12: 8, only in rid-
dles, that is, in a way which requires an explanation
of the pictures presented to view.
3) The immediate view of ihe Divinity (mouth to
mouth. Num. 12: 8) with which Moses was favored
stands higher than these forms ;i that figureless, per-
fect, clear communication of knowledge, which is to
1 In 1 Cor. 13: 12, that vision of the divinity which Moses had
is designated by Paul as the form of knowledge with which we
are not yet favored, but shall be in the future.
THE ORGANS OF REVELATION. 97
be distinguished also from the vision of God in em-
blematical tokens, spoken in Ex. 24: 10 of Aaron and
the elders of Israel. The principle that a clear con-
sciousness when receiving revelation is placed higher
than ecstasy is of great importance for the right view
of the Old Testament religion (Num. 12: 6-8; 1 Cor.
13: 12). The idea that in the case of some persons a
view into the future opens at the moment of death is
expressed in the Old Testament in Gen. 49, and Deut.
33, (in the blessings of Jacob and Moses).
[Analysis: 1) The dream the lowest form of revelation; 2) the
vision; 3) the immediate view of the divinity; 4) the ecstatic
state: 5) glimpses into the future at the hour of death.]
CHAPTER IX.
THE MOSAIC DOCTRINE OF THE NATURE OF MAN IN ITS
MAIN UNCHANGEABLE FEATURES.
§ 67. General View.
First of all the nature of man is to be described with-
out reference to the contradictory elements which
through sin entered into its development ; and then
these contradictory elements are to be set forth as
they appear in the difference between the original per^
fection of man on the one side, and the state of sin and
death in which he now is on the other side. We have
here to do only with the anthropology of Mosaism.^
[Analysis: 1) The topic of anthropology is to be discussed under
three general heads: 2} the best work is that of Delitzsch; 3) Beck
is also valuable.]
§ 68. The Idea of Man.
The idea of man is expressed in the statement, that
he is created in the image of God (Gen. 1: 26, 27; 9: 6).
This divine image is propagated (Gen. 5: 1, 3). The
statement in Gen. 1: 26 ("in our image, after our
likeness") does not mean that the divine image is
two -fold, but it rather expresses the thought that the
divine image which man bears is really one corre-
sponding to the original pattern. ^
1 For the rich literature on Biblical Anthropology see the most
complete work on this topic: Delitzsch, System of Biblical Psychol-
ogy. Edinburgh, 1869. Valuable also is the small work by Beck,
translated into English under the title: Outlines of Biblical Psychol-
ogy. Edinburgh, 1877.
2 The patristic and the later ecclesiastical exposition attempted
to draw an essential distinction between the ideas image and
likeness, making the former denote the inalienable essence, the lat-
MAN IN RELATION TO SEX AND RACE. 99
But now whai is fo be understood by the divine image?
1) We are certainly not to think of the human body
as if it were a copy of the divine form, for Elohim, the
creative God, is without form. We might rather say,
that the human figure was to be so formed that it
might serve to represent God Himself when He re-
vealed Himself. 2) It is equally erroneous to limit
the divine likeness to the dominion over the animal world,
as the Socinians did. 3) The divine likeness is rather
to be referred to the whole dignity of man (Ps. 8: 5, 6),
in virtue of which human nature is sharply dis-
tinguished from that of the beasts; man as a free
being is set over nature, and designed to hold communion
with God, and to be His representative on earth. This image,
therefore, lies in the spirit of man.
The spiritual dominion of man over the beasts is
indicated in the giving of names (Gen. 2: 19, 20).
[Analysis : 1) Man is created in the image of God ; 2) this image
is propagated ; 3) meaning of Gen. 1: 26; 4) this image is not
that of the body: 5) nor does it consist in dominion over the
animal world; 6) this image lies in his spirit.]
§ 69. Man in relation to Sex and Race.
1) The sexual relation of man and woman is originally
ordained m Gen. 1: 27 ("male and female created He
them").^ This does not mean that man was origin-
ally created androgynous (a man who was at once a
man and woman), but that man was created first,
and the woman afterwards (Gen. 2: 22); as also the
passage is understood in 1 Tim. 2: 13; 1 Cor. 11: 8, 9.
2) According to Gen. 2: 18, 24, marriage, that
primitive form of human society from which all other
forms of society arise, and for which man gives up
ter the likeness to God defaced by the Fall. But the two expres-
sions tselem and demuth are substantially synonymous in Hebrew,
and if there is any difference it is simply, as Schultz observes, the
difference between the concrete and the abstract.
100 THE DOCTRINES OF MOSAISM.
the others, did not spring from tlie bhnd sway of
natural impulse, but from divine institution .
Its original form is monogamy (compare Matt. 19:
4-6). As indicative of character, pol^^gamy is traced
to the Cainites (Gen. 4: 19). The law does indeed
tolerate polygamy, but does not sanction it, and
moreover, provides against the wrongs that easily
spring from it (Ex. 21: 10; Deut. 21: 15-17). Big-
amy, in the form in which Genesis represents it as
forced on Jacob, was afterwards expressly forbidden
in the law (Lev. 18: 18). In general, monogamy re-
mained predominant among the people of Israel; in
fact the description of a wife in Prov. 12: 4; 19: 14;
31: 10-31, and in particular the prophetic represen-
tation of the covenant between Jehovah and His
people as marriage, clearly presuppose that monoga-
my is the rule.
The possession of children, by which the house is
built up is looked upon as a divine blessing (Gen. 1:
28). Childlessness is looked upon as the greatest
misfortune to a house (Gen. 30: 23). To hinder fruit-
fulness is treated as an abomination worthy of death
(Gen. 38; 9, 10).
3) All mankind is a connected race of brothers (Act. 17:
26). The differences between nations and orders of
men do not rest on a diversity of physical origin, but
upon the law of God, who made the nations to differ
and set them their boundaries (Deut. 32: 8), and who
reveals His retributive ordinances even in their natu-
ral character (Canaan, Moab, Ammon, etc.).
[Analysis: 1) The sexual relation was ordained by God; 2) mar-
riage is a divine institution; 3) its original form was monogamy;
4) children are regarded a divine blessing ; 5) the unity of the
race.]
BODY, SOUL AND SPIEIT. 101
§ 70. Body, Soul, and Spirit as the Constituent Parts of
Man.
Man, like all beings endowed with life originated
from iwo elemenis, 1) from earthly material (ground,
dust), and 2) from the Divine Spirit (ruach), Gen. 2: 7,
compared with Ps. 104: 29, 30; 146: 4. As in general
the soul (nephesh) originates in the flesh (basar) by
the union of spirit with matter, so in particular the
human soul arises in the human body by the breath-
ing of the divine breath into the material frame of
the human body. The soul, which is common to
man and beast, does not originate in the same way. The
souls of animals arise like plants from the earth, as a
consequence of the divine word of power, Gen. 1: 24
(''let the earth bring forth the living nephesh''). Thus
the creating spirit which entered in the beginning
(Gen. 1: 2) into matter, rules in them. But the hu-
man soul does not spring from the earth ; it is created
by a special act of divine inbreathing (Gen. 2: 7 compared
with Gen. 1: 26). Thus the substance of the human soul
is the divine spirit of life uniting with itself matter; the soul
exists and lives only by the power of the spirit (ruach). In
the soul, which sprang from the spirit, and exists con-
tinually through it, lies the individuality of man, his
personality, his self, his ego; because man is not spirit
(ruach), but has it— he is soul. Man perceives and
thinks by virtue of the spirit which animates him (Job
32: 8; Prov. 20: 27), but the perceiving and thinking
subject itself is the soul (nephesh). The impulse to act
proceeds from the spirit (ruach) (Ex. 35: 21), but the
acting subject is the soul (nephesh)-, the soul is the
subject which sins (Ezek. 18: 4). Love and attach-
ment are of course a thing of the soul (Gen. 34: 3, 8).
In many cases, however, soul and spirit stand indiffer-
102 THE DOCTRINES OF MOSAISM.
ently, according as the personality is named after its
special individual life, or after the living power which
forms the condition of its special character.
From all this it is clear that the Old Testament
does not teach a trichotomy of the human being in the
sense of body, soul, and spirit, as being originally three
co-ordinate elements of man; rather are we to regard
the body and spirit of man as being of distinct natures,
but the soul is of one nature wdth the spirit. The
spirit is the inward being of the soul, and the soul is
the external nature of the spirit.
In all ages a few passages in the Old Testament
have been supposed by some to teach a pre-existence
of the soul. But no such inference can be drawn from
the main passages adduced for such a doctrine (Ps.
139: 15; Job 1:21).
[Analysis: 1) Man has had his origin from two elementa ; 2) the
soul had its origin in the union of spirit with matter; 3) the soul
of man does not originate in the same way as the soul of the
beast; 4) the human soul is created by a special act of inbreath-
ing; 5) the essence of the human soul; 6) in the soul lies person-
ality; 7) difference between the soul and the spirit; 8) the doc-
trine of trichotomy ; 9) the 0. T. does not teach the pre-existence
of the soul.]
§ 71. The Heart and its Relation to the Soul.
The soul of man has a double sphere of life:
1) It is anima, that on which rests the life belong-
ing to the senses, the soul of the flesh in the more
limited sense. As such it acts in the b/ood, and sup-
plies life to the body through the blood ; hence the
proposition, ''The life (soul) of the flesh is in the
blood" (Lev. 17: 11); indeed, it is said directly, "The
blood is life (soul)," Gen. 9: 4; Lev. 17: 14; Deut.
12: 23.
2) It is not simply anima, the principal of life be-
longing to the senses, but it is at the same time animus
THE HEART AND ITS RELATION TO THE SOUL. 103
—the subject of all the acts of knowing, feeling, and willing,
and especially the subject of those acts and states of
man that refer to his communion with God (Deut. 4:
29; 6: 5; Isa: 61: 10; Ps. 19: 7; etc).
In both its relations, as anima and animus, the soul
centres in the heart. The heart, as the central organ of
the circulation of the blood ("the pitcher at the foun-
tain," Eccles. 12: 6), forms the focus of the life of the
body. But the heart is also the centre of all spiritual
functions ("keep th}^ heart mth all diligence; for out
of it are the issues of life," Prov. 4; 23). In partic-
ular, the heart is the place in which the process of
self-consciousness goes on, in which the soul is at home
with itself and is conscious of all its doing and suffer-
ing as its own (Deut. 8; 5; Isa. 44; 18; etc). The heart
is also the organ of the act of knowing in general, so
that heart has often exactly the meaning of intellect,
insight (Job 34; 10; Jer. 5; 21).
Now, because the heart is the central point of the
person's life, the work-place for the personal appropri-
ation and assimilation of everything spiritual, the
moral and religious condition of man lies in the heart.
Because of this, man is characterized by his heart in
all his habitual and moral attributes. We read in
Prov. 10: 8, of a wise heart; in Ps. 51: 12, of a pure
(clean) heart ; etc. So, on the other hand, of a per-
verse (fro ward) heart (Ps. 101: 4); of a stubborn and
evil heart (Jer. 3: 17); etc. Accordingly the human
heart is characterized in Jer. 17: 9 as "deceitful above
all things" (properly rugged), and "desperately sick,"
so that God alone (but He completely, Prov. 15: 11)
is able to fathom the depths of its perverseness ; and
hence the prayer in Ps. 139: 23, 24. Hence all revela-
tion addresses itself to the heart, even the revelation
Qf the law, Deut. 6: 6; for it demands love to God
104 THE DOCTRINES OF MOSAISM.
from the whole heart, and starting from this centre,
also from the whole soul (Deut. 11: 18). The work
of revelation is directed to rene^^^ng man from the
heart; its aim is to circumcise the heart (Deut. 30:
6), -to establish God's will within the heart (Jer.
31: 33).
Also on man's side the process of salvation begins
in the heart. Faith, in which man's personal life in its
deepest basis takes a new direction, belongs entirely
to the sphere of the heart, and is described as a mak-
ing fast, a making strong (Ps. 27: 14; 31: 24), a
staying of the heart (compare especially Ps. 112: 7,
8) on that foundation which is God, ''the Rock of my
heart" (Ps. 73: 26): (Compare the same view in the
New Testament— for example, Rom. 10: 9, 10).
[Analysis: 1) The bouI of man is anima; 2) and at the same time
animus; 3) in both these relations the soul centres in the heart;
4) it is the centre of all spiritual functions; 5) the centre of self-
consciousness; 6) the organ of knowing in general; 7) the re-
ligious condition of man lies in the heart; 8) man's moral attri-
butes are characterized by his heart; 9) revelation is addressed
to the heart; 10) faith belongs to the sphere ol the heart.]
CHAPTER X.
THE MOSAIC DOCTRINE OF MAN WITH REFERENCE
TO SIN.
§ 72. The Primitive State of Man.
The condition of man in his primitive state was one
of innocence and childlike intercourse with God^ of harmo-
nious relation to nature, and, conditionally, of exemption
from death.
1) Man was created ^roo^/ (Gen. 1: 31), that is, con-
formed to the divine aim. But this good must be de-
veloped into free self-determination. The conception
of the original state as a created condition of wisdom
and sanctity contradicts the statement in Genesis; it
would be much more in the sense of the Old Testa-
ment to say, as Eccl. 7: 29 expresses it: "God made
man upright" (right). The view that the original
state was only an absence of actual sin, in the sense
either of a state of pure indifference, or a state in
which the evil was already latent, so that in the Fall
the disposition which already existed in man only
came forth, is equally irreconcilable with Genesis.
2) In the primitive condition, man lives in un-
disturbed and peaceful union with nature and with
God. The latter is made especially clear by the con-
trast implied in Gen. 3: 8. The peaceful relation of
man with nature is taught partly in the description
of life in Paradise in general, and partly in the con-
trast between the present relation of man to nature
aad his condition before dnj since man must now
106 THE DOCTRINES OF MOSAISM.
make nature of service to him by toiling and strugg-
ling (Gen. 3: 17, 18; 5: 29), and since he exercises his
dominion over the animals by deeds of violence and
destruction of life (Gen. 9: 2, 3 contrasted mth Gen.
1: 29). Hence prophecy has depicted the termination
of this hostile relation in its description of the time of
salvation (Isa. 11: 6-8; 65: 25).
3) Lastly, in Gen. 2, immortality is ascribed to man,
but conditionally, in the sense of to be able not to die
(posse non mori). This idea, indeed, does not neces-
sarily lie in the words of Gen. 2: 17, but it is quite
clear from Gen. 3: 22, that the possibility of reach-
ing immortality was annexed to the life in Paradise,
and that immortality was destined for man so far as
he should live in unbroken communion with God.
Nor on the other hand can we infer from Gen. 3: 19,
that by nature man must die ; the words only give
the reason why the end of man's life, when once de-
creed, is brought about in the manner described as a
dissolution of the body.
[Analysis: 1) The primitive state of man; 2) the state of inno-
cence must be developed into free self-determination; 3) the
original state was not a created condition of wisdom and sanctity;
4) nor was it only an absence of actual sin; 5) man lived in
peaceful relation with nature; 6) the teaching of prophecy; 7)
man was able not to die.]
§ 73. The Formal Principle of Sin.
1) Man can pass from the state of innocence into
the possession of moral character only by an act of
self-determination. When the woman (Gen. 3: 2, 3)
remembers the divine command, and knows that she
is bound by it, and thus acknowledges its obligatory
force, she has not yet sinned, and yet she shows that
she has a conscience. Hence it follows that, accord-
ing to the Old Testament sin is not a necessary fac-
THE MATERIAL PRINCIPLE OF SIN. 107
tor in the development of man, but a product of free
choice.
2) The first inciiemeni to transgress the command of
God came from Avithout. The account of the Fall
presupposes an ungodly principle which had already en-
tered the world, but does not give any further account
of it.^ But the chief thing at issue is this, that the
seduction does not at all act by compulsion on man,
but is successful only when man voluntarily ceases to
resist temptation.
[Analysis: 1) Man sins by an act of self-determination; 2) Eve
shows that she has a conscience; 3) sin is a product of free choice;
4) an ungodly principle in the world before man sinned; 5) man
is not compelled to sin.]
§ 74. The Material Principle of Sin. The Old Testament
Names of Sin.
The real principle of sin, is, according to the Old
Testament, 1) unbelief of the divine word, 2) the
selfish elevation of self-will above the divine will, and
3) the presumptuous trampling upon the limits set
by divine command.
Gen. 3 disproves the doctrine, that, according to
the Old Testament, the real principle of evil lies in
matter, in the body. It is a fundamental doctrine of the
Old Testament that evil is originally the denial of the
divine will ; that sin is sin because man selfishly exalts
himself above God and His will.
Most probably such passages as Hos. 6: 7; Job
31: 33, refer to the Fall, and are correctly translated
in the text of the Revised Version. The passage in
Isa. 43: 27, "The first father sinned" refers evidently
1 The New Testament teaches that the seduction of the first
man is the work of Satan, especially in Rev. 12: 9, where the devil
is called the dragon, the old serpent; compare also the allusion in
Rom. 16: 20 to Gen. 3: 15.
108 THE DOCTRINES OF MOSAISM.
to Abraham, for Adam is not the ancestor of Israel,
but of humanity.
The following are the most common Old Testament
designations for Sin:
1) C/iata (first in Gen. 4: 7), a missing, a deviation
from the divine way and goal prescribed for man
by the divine will. It comprehends sins of weakness
as well as sins of wickedness.
2) ^Avon, crookedness, perversion, primarily referring
to the character of an action. It is the perversion of the
divine law (anomia); then especially the guilt of sin, first
in Gen. 15: 16 (iniquity). See Ps. 32: 5.
3) Pesha, sin in its intensification, apostasy, rebellion
against God. Design and set purpose to sin are always
implied in this word. Chief passage Job 34: 37.
4) Resha, the evil which has become an habitual fea-
ture of the disposition and actions. The underlying idea
in resha appears to be stormy excitement (Job 3: 17).
5) Aven, evil as in itself empty and worthless.
[Analysis: The three elements of sin ; '2) the real principle of evil
does not lie in matter; 3) evil is originally the denial of the divine
■will; 4) the 0. T. names for sin.]
§ 75. Sin as an Inclination. Transmission of Sin.
In consequence of the Fall, sin appears as a state in
mankind, that is, an inclination which rules man, and
as a common sinful life which is transmitted partly
in mankind in general, and partly in an especial de-
gree in particular races.
1) The second sin, that of self -excuse and palliation
of the offence, follows immediately on the first, the
sin of disobedience (Gen. 3: 10). As sin thus joins to
sin, it becomes a habitus, and in this way a definite
feature of the heart (imagination of the heart, Gen. 8:
21), an inclination, which gives a perverted tendency
DEGREES OE SIN. 109
to man's will (Gen. 6: 5). Because this sinful inclina-
tion (this is the meaning of the variously explained
passage Gen. 8: 21) cleaves to man from his youth,
the human race would lie under a continual sentence
of destruction if God gave severe justice its course.
2) That this sinful inclination is hereditary is in-
directly contained in the passages cited, although it
is not expressly said. Ps. 51: 5, "Behold, I wasshapen
in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me,"
directly says that evil is ingro^^Ti in man from the
first moment of his origin,— for the explanation
that here reference is only to the iniquity and sin of the
parents, is untenable. So that even the newly-born
child is not free from sin, or as Job 14: 4 expresses
it, "Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?
not one."
This transmission of sin takes place with special in-
tensity in certain races, especially those that have fallen
under the divine curse. This is implied in the history of
the Cainites (Gen. 4); of Ham, and especially Canaan
(Gen. 9: 25 onward); of Moab and Ammon (Gen. 19:
36 onward); and this is especially expressed in the
repeated declaration that God visits the sins of the
fathers on the third and fourth generation (Ex. 20:
5; 34: 7; Num. 14: 18; Deut. 5: 9).
[Analysis: 1) Sin is an inclination which rules man; 2) the first
sin is that of disobedience; 3) the second that of self-excuse;
4) meaning of Gen. 8: 21; 5) of Ps. 51: 5; 6) of Job 14: 4; 7) of
Ex. 20: 5.]
§ 76. Antagonism of the Good and the Evil in Man. Degrees
of Sin. Possibility of a Relative Righteousness.
According to the Old Testament, the condition of
man in consequence of the Fall is not that of an ab-
solute subjection to sin, which destroys the power of
110 THE DOCTRINES OF MOSAISM,
resistance, but it is an antagonism between man's sus-
ceptibility to the good and the power of sin. In Gen.
4: 6, 7 are expressed the possibility and the duty of
resisting the sinful inclination. According as men
seek or do not seek to rule over sin, there arises a
difference of relation to God and a difference in the
degree of sinfulness.
The Old Testament calls the highest degree of sin
obduracy or hardening of the heart. This is the condi-
tion in AAhich a man, by continually cherishing sin,
has lost the ability to withstand it ; and it is added
that God can glorify Himself on such a one only by
punishment. For it is God's ordinance, that as the
power to do good grows by its exercise, so also sin is
punished by continued sinning (Ps. 81: 11, 12). This
hardening is both a divine act, and at the same time
the sinner's own act, so that the two expressions are in-
terchangeable (compare Ex. 7: 3 with 8: 15,28; etc.).
In the first case, hardening is the effect of the divine
wrath (Isa. 64: 5). We must here note as essential,
that the Old Testament (like the New) always speaks
of hardening only in connection vdth. a divine revela-
tion offered to the sinner, but rejected by him. This
is applicable to Pharaoh, who sees the miracles of
Moses, but whose "heart was hardened" (Ex. 8: 19).
In such passages the point is not (as understood by
Calvinists) a dark and hidden decree of reprobation,
but a divine decree of judgment, well grounded and
perfectly manifest.
The course of hardening is described in Isa. 6: 10;
incapability to hear the divine word and see God's
way connects itself with dullness of heart, and this
again reacts on the heart so that its insusceptibility
becomes incurable.
On the other hand, in the midst of the sinful world,
ANTAGONISM OF THE GOOD AND THE EVIL OF MAN. Ill
a righteousness is attained by a cheerful resignation to
the divine will, and by the loyalty with which a man
accepts the witness of God, given to him in accord-
ance with the then stage of revelation. Enoch walked
with God (Gen. 5: 22); Noah is regarded as righteous
in the general corruption (Gen. 7: 1); Abraham be-
lieved the promise, and it was counted to him for
righteousness (Gen. 15: 6). But the Old Testament
knows nothing of absolutely righteous persons (1 Kings
8: 46; Ps. 143: 2; Isa. 43: 27; Prov. 20: 9; Eccles. 7:
20). The Mosaic Law attests this by excepting none
from the need of atonement.
[Analysis: 1) The reason there are degrees of sin; 2) hardening
of the heart both a divine act and the sinner's own act; 3)harden-
ing of the heart always spoken of in connection with a divine
revelation; 4) case of Pharaoh; 5) exposition of Isa. 6: 10; 6) the
0. T. knows of EO absolutely righteous persons]
CHAPTER XL
THE MOSAIC DOCTRINE OF DEATH AND THE STATE
AFTER DEATH. 1
§ 77. The Connection between Sin and Death.
The consequence of sin is death. This is positive// ex-
pressed in Gen. 2: 17. The issue of the punishment is
at once placed foremost in the threat, as is generally
the case in prophetical announcements. There is no
difficulty here from the fact that death did not really
follow immediately after the Fall, as in reality man en-
tered on the path of death immediately on the com-
mission of sin.
The punishment of death is connected with disobedience,
not ^vith the effect of the fruit of the tree as many ex-
positors infer from the contrast in Gen. 3: 22. The
partaking of the fruit had death as its consequence
solely because a decision of the mil was involved in
it. The intimate connection of sin and death is clear
from Gen. 6:3, though this passage primarily treats
only of the shortening of the length of life through
sin. According to this passage (the marginal trans-
lation of the Revised Version is to be preferred "//7 their
going astray they are flesh''), the divine spirit of life
which supports man is enfeebled by sin, and thus
man's vital strength is destroyed ; while, as Isaiah
(63: 10) expresses himself, the Spirit of God is grieved
by sin ; it is also repressed as to the physical principle
of life, and thus man is subject to mortality.
1 There is no topic of 0. T. theology on which the literature is
so rich as on the one in question. The literature of the subject
up to the year 1844 is given in Bottcher's learned work, De In-
feris, etc., 1846. See also Delitzsch, Biblical Psychology.
THE CONDITION AFTER DEATH. Il3
[Analysis: 1) The consequence of sin is death; 2) man immedi"
ately entered on the path of death; 3) this punishment is con"
nected with disobedience; 4) the meaning of Gen. 6: 3.]
§ 78. The Doctrine of Mosaism on the Condition after Death.
Death takes place when the divine spirit of life which
sustains man is withdrawn by God (Ps. 104: 29), by
which means man expires (Gen. 7: 21, 22), upon which
the body returns to the dust from Avhence it was
taken (Job 34, 14: 15; Eccles. 12: 7 compared with
8: 8). From the whole connection of Old Testament
doctrine^ it is clear that as the origin so also the final
destiny of man's soul is different from that of the soul
of an animal (with which it seems to be identified in
Ps. 104: 29), and that, when the sustaining spirit of
life is withdrawn, although the band by which the
nephesh (soul) is bound to the body is loosed, the soul
itself, and man, so far as his personality lies in the
soul continues to exist ; yet, he exists only as a weak
shadow, which wanders into the kingdom of the dead
(Sheol). Man's existence after death is treated in the
Old Testament so much as a matter of course, that
the reality of it is never the subject of doubt. The
doubts with which the Israelitish spirit wrestled re-
ferred only to the how of existence after death. It is
the nephesh (soul) which wanders into the kingdoni of
the dead (Ps. 16: 10; 30: 3; 86: 13; 89: 48; etc.); so
also it is the nephesh which returns again to the body
of the dead child on being restored to life (1 Kings
17: 21, 22). Oehler adduces the narratives of resur-
rection from the dead (1 Kings 17: 21, 22; 2 Kings 4:
34, 35) as proofs that a close connection between the
body just quitted and the soul still subsists immediate-
ly after death, but maintains on the other hand, that
there is no trace in the Old Testament of the Egyptian
114 THE DOCTRINES OF MOSAISM.
notion that a continual connection subsists between
the soul and body, in virtue of which the preservation
of the body secures the continuance of the soul.
The p/ace into which man migrates ("the house ap-
pointed for all living," Job 30: 23), is called Sheo/.
The word (from shaa/, to ask) characterizes the king-
dom of the dead as that Avhich is insatiable in its de-
mands.
The following essentia/ features of the conception of
Sheo I are distinctly presented in the Old Testament :
The kingdom of the dead is supposed to be in the
depths (Ps. 86: 13) of the earth (Ps. 63: 10), deeper
even than the Avaters and their inhabitants (Ezek. 26:
20; 31: 14; 32: 18). It agrees Avith this, that it is a
region of thickest darkness, "AA^herethe light is as dark-
ness" (Job 10: 22). The dead are there gathered in
tribes ("gathered to his people," Gen. 25: 8; 35: 29;
compare the picture of Sheol in Ezek. 32: 17-32).
These terms cannot possibly be referred to the
grave. The kingdom of the dead and the grave are, on the
contrary, definitely distinguished.^
The condition of men in the realm of death is repre-
sented as the privation of all that belongs to life in the full
sense; and so the realm of death is simply called
Abaddon, that is destruction (Job. 26: 6; Prov. 15: 11;
27: 20). Without strength, dull, and like men in
slumber, the dead rest in silence (Ps. 94: 17; 115: 17).
Sheol is the land of forgetfulness (Ps. 88: 12).
"There is no Avork, nor device, nor knoAvledge,
nor wisdom, in Sheol, aa hither thou goest" (Eccles.
1 Schultz: Sheol is not the grave itself . For even where there is
no grave Sheol is thought of as the abode of the departed (Gen.
37:35; Num. 16: 30, 33). It is the dwelling-place for the dead,
who rest there after the joy and suffering of Hie. It is "the land of
the departed spirits," in contrast to "the land of the living." (Ps.
18: 5; 16: 10).
CONDITION OF THE SOUL IN SHEOL. 115
9: 10). (Compare Eccles. 9: 5, 6). With; all this,
however, their consciousness is not destroyed; their
personal identity continues (compare such passages
as Isa. 14: 9, 10; Ezek. 32: 21: 1 Sam. 28: 15, 16).
It is not possible to ascend or return from the realm
of the dead (Job 7: 9; 14: 12). (The Old Testament
relates only one example of the appearing of a dead
person, Samuel, 1 Sam. 28. This narrative is not to
be explained as if we had here a record of a mere de-
ception, as the older theologians interpreted it).
[Analysis: 1) The nature of death; 2) the destiny of man's soul
different from that of an animal; 3) the soul continues to exist;
4) goestoSheol; 5) immortality of the soul never questioned in
the 0. T.; 6) the question is simply how; 7) the nephesh leaves
the body; 8) a close connection between soul and body immedi-
ately after death; 9) but the Egyptian notion is not taught in
the O. T.; 10) derivation of the word Sheol; 11) the conception of
Sheol in the O. T.; 12) Sheol is not the grave itself; 13) it is the
place of the departed spirits; 14) the condition of the soul in the
Sheol; 15) consciousness of the soul is not destroyed ; 16) the
appearance of Samuel.]
§ 79. Condition of the Soul in Sheol.
In no part of the Old Testament is a difference in the
lot of those in the realm of death distinctly spoken
of; only in Isa. 14: 15; Ezek. 32: 23, where the fallen
conquerors are relegated to the uttermost depths,
can we find an indication of different grades in the
realm of the dead. Elsewhere, only a division into
people and races, and not a division of just and un-
just, is spoken of. In itself, the condition in Sheol,
which is in the main the most indefinite existence pos-
sible, is neither blessedness nor positive unblessedness.
The Mosaic retribution has its sphere entirely on this
side of the grave (§ 89).
On the traces of belief in a heavenly life beyond the grave
which have been supposed to be found in the Penta-
teuch, the translation of Enoch (Gen. 5: 24) can alone
116 THE DOCTRINES OF MOSAISM.
come into consideration. But that is not a testimony
to a higher existence of the soul after death; for the
meaning of the passage is that Enoch never died, —
that is, his body and soul were never separated. In
it, as in the history of Elijah's translation (2 Kings
2), there lies rather the declaration, that even before
the coming of death's vanquisher some specially fa-
vored men were excepted from the curse of death and
of the kingdom of death which hangs over man.
But it is clearly expressed in the Pentateuch that
the relation of the righteous to God is not cancelled after
death. The relation into which God entered Avith the
patriarchs continues (Ex. 3: 6 compared with Gen.
26: 24; 28: 13). "I am the God of Abraham, and the
God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. God is not the
God of the dead, but of the Kving" (Matt. 22: 32.)
[Analysis : 1 ) There is a difiference in the condition of the souls in
Sheol; 2) the translation of Enoch; 3) the soul lives after death.]
i
SECTION III.
THE ORDINANCES OF MOSAISM.
§ 80. The Nature of the Covenant.
The form in which the Covenant of God with Israel
is made (Ex. 19-24), is a contract resting on the
promises and engagements of the two contracting
parties (Ex. 19: 5, 8; 24: 3, 7). Yet the relation of
the parties is not purely mutual. It is Jehovah alone
who fixes the conditions of the covenant (Lev. 11:44,
45), and on whom depend the maintenance of the
regulations of the treaty and the final realization of
the aim of the covenant.
According to its nature, the covenant presents it-
self under the following heads :
1) The divine act, from which the covenant pro-
ceeds, viz., ihe divine election, and the promise annexed
to it.
2) Man's obligation. He who prescribes the obliga-
tion is God; that to which man is bound, is the reve-
lation of the divine will in Me /aw, especially the
Decalogue, which is the obligatory document in tTie
stricter sense ; but the symbol of obligation is in par-
ticular the sign of circumcision , imposed on those who
are subject to the covenant obligations.
3) Thus according as the nation performs its obli-
gation, the divine retribution is determined, which,
however, is so carried out that at the end the divine
purpose of election must come to be realized.
[Analysis: 1) The covenant is a contract between two parties;
2) the relation of the parties, however, is not purely mutual; 3)
the subject will be discussed under three heads.]
CHAPTER XII.
THE DIVINE ELECTION.
§ 81. Israel's Election as the Free Act of God's Love.
The adoption of Israel as the covenant people is a
free act of God, or in other words, an act of divine love^
and necessary only so far as God has bound Himself by His
oaM— that is, a proof of His truth and faithfulness—
but is in no way dependent on man's desert. These
propositions are expressly inculcated on the people
at every opportunity. It is only on this ground that
the divine commands to the people are given, and
therefore the Decalogue (Ex. 20: 2) places at its fore-
front the fact of election. The divine love appears
here as the first point in the founding of the covenant
relation Avith Israel.
The divine promise is sealed by the oath of God, which
is given Avhenever the matter in question is an un-
changeable decree, the performance of Avhich is not to
depend on contingencies (Heb. 6: 17).
[Analysis: 1) The adoption of Israel is au act of love; 2) it
does not depend on man's desert; 3) the promise is sealed by an
oath.]
§ 8:^. Forms of the Expression of this Election.
The divine election of the people is expressed in the
following forms: Jehovah is the Father of His people;
Israel is His first-born son ; His property out of all
the nations of the earth; the holy, priestly people.
All these ideas are correlated.
1) In the Old Testament the divine Fatherhood has
an ethical meaning. It denotes the relation of love
Israel's election. 119
and moral communion in which Jehovah has placed
Israel to Himself. This relation is quite unique ; Je-
hovah is only the Father of the chosen people, not the
Father of the other nations (Ex. 4: 22, 23; Deut.
32: 6).
The fatherhood of Jehovah was displayed in the
deliverance of the people from Egypt (Hos. 11: 1);
then in the divine guidance through the wilderness,
which was a fatherly discipline (Deut. 8: 5; Hos. 11:
3); and so likewise all subsequent redemption and
providential guidance of Israel is a manifestation of
the divine fatherhood (Isa. 63: 16).
2) The same relation between Israel and God which
rests on the divine election is expressed in the appel-
lations— people of God's possession, a holy people (Deut.
14: 1, 2). The word holy (see § 44) conveys negative-
ly the idea of separation from all other people, and
positively of admission or introduction into com-
munion with God (Ex. 19: 4). In virtue of this atti-
tude to God, Israelis a /7r/es/// people. (Ex. 19: 6).
Vocation to the immediate service of the true God is the
main idea in the priestly character of the covenant
people. God sanctifies the people to Himself positively
by dwelling among them, by His revelation in word
and deed, by every institution on which is imprinted
the unique relation between Israel and God, and final-
ly, by placing His spirit in the congregation.
3) The other nations form a great profane mass. Still,
even from the standpoint of Mosaism, the theocratic
exclusiveness is not absolutely exclusive; for every heath-
en, dwelling as a stranger in the land, could by cir-
cumcision become incorporated among the covenant
people, and thus receive a share of all the gracious
benefits bestowed on Israel (Ex. 12: 48); with the ex-
120 THE ORDINANCES OF MOSAISM.
ception, however, of the Canaaniiish tribes, the Moabiies
and Ammonites (Deut. 23: 4, 5).
[Analysis: 1) Special names by which the relation of God to
Israelis expressed; 2) the meaning of "Fatherhood"; 3) how
displayed; 4) the meaning ol "holy people"; 5) of "priestly peo-
ple"; 6) the relations w^hich the Gentiles bore to Israel.]
CHAPTER XIII.
§ 83. The Servant of Jehovah.
The covenant of promise with Abraham was made
upon the condition that he and his descendants bind
themselves to a godly life and to obedience to God's
will (Gen. 17: 1, 2; 18: 19). The same condition is pre-
scribed to the people (Ex. 19: 5), and accepted by the
people (Ex. 19: 8; 24: 3). Laid under this obligation
to their God, the Israelites are the servants of Jeho-
vah, whom He has purchased by redeeming them
from Egyptian bondage, and who, therefore are
exempt from all earthly lordship by being bound to
the service of God (Lev. 25: 42, 55; 26: 13).
The idea of the servant of God is complete only
when he who is bound to God also binds himself to
God's will, following God perfectly, — the praise which
is repeatedly given to Caleb and Joshua as servants
of God (Num. 14: 24; 32: 12). Thus to the servant
of God belongs the subjective quality of righteousness.
This word expresses in general the conformity of man
to God's will, — his normal relation to God. So far as
God's mil is elective and promissory, righteousness con-
sists in full surrender to elective grace and the divine
word of promise. So far as the will of God is a com-
manding will, it lies in the fulfilling of God's commands
(Deut. 6: 25),
Inasmuch as the name "^ '^servant of Jehovah" specie
ally designates the chosen instruments of the divine
kingdom, an essential element in the idea is the
thought of faithfulness in the house of God, and this
122 THE ORDINANCES OF MOSAISM.
title "servant of Jehovah" is the highest name of
honor in the Old Testament applied to Abraham
(Gen. 26: 24) and Moses (Num. 12: 7; Josh. 1: 2-7).
[Analysis: 1) The conditions of the covenant; 2) the Israelites
are the servants of Jdiovah ; 3) the meaning- of "servant of Je-
hovah"; 4) the different aspects of the subjective quality "right-
eousness"; 5) in what special sense Abraham and Moses are
designated "servants oi Jehovah."]
§ 84. The Law.
The compass of the people's obligations is the law,
the fundamental principle of which is expressed in the
Avords, "Sanctify yourselves, and be ye holy : for I am
Jehovah your God" (Lev. 20: 7).
The traditional division of the law of Moses into
moral, ceremonial, and forensic laws may serve to facili-
tate a general view of theocratic ordinances.
The law of Moses, however, does not demand only
external conformity to the law, a mere legality and
not morality. On the contrary the law insists on the
disposition of Me ^ear^, when it says, "Thou shalt not
covet" (Ex. 20: 17). It demands the external as co-
ordinate AAlth the internal. And precisely in this lies
an important educating element.
From a right estimate of the law of Moses, the fol-
lowing points have further to be noticed :
1) The whole ritual ordinances to which the Israel-
ite is subject, from his circumcision onward, have a
symbolic character, mirroring the inner process of
sanctiflcation, and so forming the instrument of tui-
tion advancing from the outer to the inner man.
2) The precepts of the law are given in detail mainly on
the negative side; what the Israelites may not do is
told with great l:^articularit3^ ^
1 The scholastic subtlety of the Rabbins has made out the con-
siderable number of 248 positive commands and 365 prohibi-
THE DECALOGUE. 123
3) Finally,— and this is the main point,— we have
to look at the motives for fulfilling the law which the
law presents. All righteousness required by the law
presupposes faith in the divine election, in the gra-
cious guidance, and in the promises.
[Analysis: 1) The norm of duty is the law; 2) traditional di-
vision of the law; 3) the demands of the law are not simplv ex-
ternal ; 4) three points must be borne in mind ; 5) the subtlety of
the Rabbins.] / j
§ 85. The Decalogue. Its Division.
The Decalogue (''the ten words," Ex. 34: 28; Dent.
4: 13; 10: 4) stands at the beginning (Ex. 20: 2—17)
of fhe book of the covenant (Ex. 20-23). See Ex. 24: 7.
It was written on two tables of stone, which, accord-
ing to Ex. 32: 15, were inscribed on both sides. The
number ten characterizes the commandments as a
complete whole. The Decalogue is again given in
Deut. 5: 6-21.
Of the d/v/s/on of the Decalogue there have long been
various views. The main schemes of division are
Mree, distinguished by the way in which they take the
first and the last commandment.
1) The first scheme became prevalent in the Roman
Catholic Church under the influence of Augustine, and
has been retained by the Lutheran Church, and in
recent times defended by Kurtz and others. It includes
in the first commandment Ex. 20: 2-6, Deut. 5: 6-10.
The ninth is generally taken according to the text of
Exodus, ''Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's
house;'' the tenth, "Thou shalt not covet thy neigh-
bor's wife,'' etc. Augustine himself, on the contrary,
in the main passage in which he treats of this subject,
tions. They associated this number with the 365 days of the
year and the 248 bones in the human body ("according to the
physiology of the time).
124 THE ORDINANCE.S OF MOSAISM.
holds to the text of Deuteronomy for the ninth and
tenth commandments, and Kurtz emends the text of
Exodus by the aid of Deuteronomy.
2) The second and third schemes of division agree in
making the whole prohibition of concupiscence a single
commandment (the ienih), but they differ as to the
//rs/ and seco/7(/ commandments. According to the view
now common among the Jews,— which, hoAvever,
seems to rest on no ancient tradition,— the first com-
mandment, comprises only Ex. 20: 2. This, they say,
implies the obligation to believe on God as the most
Perfect Being. The second commandment (Ex. 20:
3-6) then includes the obligation to believe on God's
unity and the prohibition of false worship.
3) The iliird scheme, accepted by the Greek and
Reformed Churches, and by the Socinians, makes Ex.
20: 3 the first commandment; and Ex. 20: 4-6, the
second. Oehler, on internal grounds, thinks it more
probable that verses 2-6 are to be divided, and that
the prohibition of concupiscence should not be di-
vided.^
The Hebrew accentuation of the Decalogue is two-
fold—the one accentuation giving the usual Masoretic
division into verses, the other regulating the intona-
tion in the Sjmagogue. The latter takes verses 2-6
together, showing that these five verses w^ere viewed
as closely connected. It is also certain that verses
2-6 formed only one parasha in the Hebrew Bible, and
1 He states, however, that Augustine's view (vv. 2-6 are a
single commandment), must rest on ancient Jewish tradition,
and that the close connection of these verses seems favorable to
the Augustinian view. He is not in favor of dividing the prohibi-
tion of concupiscence in Ex. 20: 17 (though he thinks it can be
justified in Deut. 5: 21), and regards the distinction drawn by the
Lutheran theologians between the ninth and tenth command-
ments (actual concupiscence and original concupiscence) as a mere
invention of polemical zeal.
THE TWO TABLES OF THE DECALOGUE. 125
these small parashas are so old that this cannot be due
to Christian influence. This is a strong externa/ argu-
ment for the Romish and Lutheran division of the
commandments.
[Analysis: 1) Thp place of the Decalogue in the Pentateuch ; 2)
why ten commandments; 3) three schemes of division ; 4) the
Lutheran view ; 5) view of the Reformed Churches; 6) the testi-
mony of the Jewish Church.]
§ 86. The Two Tables of the Decalogue.
The Old Testament does not expressly tell us how
the commandments were divided between two tables.
Three views have generally been held :
1) The arrangement assumed by Philo and Jo-
sephus, and accepted by Oe lifer, in which five precepts
are assigned to each table.
2) The view of Calvin, followed by the Reformed
Church, in which four precepts are asvsigned to the first
table, and six, commencing with the command to
honor parents, to the second.
3) The followers of the Augustinian division (the
Roman Catholic and Lutheran Churches) generally
agree in beginning the second table with the com-
mandment to honor parents, assigning three com-
mandments to the first table and seven to the second,
a division which has also this in its favor that it
makes the writing on each table nearly equal in
amount. On this view the number three has been as-
sociated with the Trinity, and it is urged that seven
in the second is a holy number.
The definitive and rounded character of the Deca-
logue is a decisive proof that it retains its original form.
[Analysis: 1) The two tables; 2) three views held as to the
number of commandments on each table.]
126 THE ORDINANCES OF MOSAISM.
§ 87. The Historical Origin of Circumcision.
The main sign of the covenant is circumcision (Gen.
17: 11), which is the constant symbol of covenant
obhgations, and of consequent covenant rights. It
was prescribed not only for Israelites by birth, but
also for all who were received into the house as slaves
(Gen. 17: 12-27 compared with Ex. 12: 44-48). On
new-born boys it w^as performed on the eighth day
(Gen. 17: 12; Lev. 12: 3).
The hisiorical origin and the religious import of cir-
cumcision must be carefully distinguished. It is
possible that the rite was customary in other tribes
before it was introduced in the race of Abraham. But
this does not justify the inference that the significance
of circumcision in the Old Testament must be ex-
plained from heathenism.
[Analysis: 1) The sign of the covenant; 2) circumcision practised
also by other nations; 3) its significance not to be explained
from heathenism.]
§ 88. Religious Import of Circumcision in the Old Testa-
ment. The Giving of a Name.
Circumcision obviously presupposes that the natu-
ral life is tainted by impurity, which must be removed
in those who are called to covenant fellowship with
God. It may be named, with Ewald, "the offering of
the body ;" and this is carried out in a way that shall
declare the propagation of the race of revelation to
be consecrated to God. Circumcision is essentially
distinguished from Christian baptism by not consti-
tuting an immediate, personal relation between God
and the recipient of the ordinance. It does not
operate as an individual mea,ns of grace. Circumci-
sion is no vehicle of sanctifying forces, as it makes no
RELIGIOUS IMPORT OF CIRCUMCISION. 127
demand in reference to the internal state of the recipi-
ent. The rite effects admission to the fellowship of
the covenant people as an opus operafum, securing to
the individual as a member of the nation his share in
the promises and saving benefits granted to the na-
tion as a whole. On the other hand circumcision
certainly makes ethical demands on him who has re-
ceived it. It binds him to obedience to God, whose
covenant sign he bears in his body and to a blame-
less walk before Him (Gen. 17: 1). Thus it is the
symbol of the renewal and purification of heart.
With circumcision was combined the naming of the
child, which although it is first expressly mentioned in
Luke 1: 59; 2: 21, is clearly indicated by the connec-
tion of Gen. 17: 5 with what follows, and Gen. 21: 3,
4. How frequently the giving of a name was in Israel
an act of religious confession, is seen in the meanings
of numerous biblical proper names. A religious con-
secration for girls is neither presented at the institu-
tion of circumcision, nor at a later date. This agrees
with the dependent position of woman, who has a
part in national and covenant life only as the partner
of man— as wife and mother. Girls are said to have
been named when weaned.
[Analysis: 1) Circumcision presupposes that the natural life is
tainted by impurity; 2) it is "the offering of the body"; 3) is es-
sentially distinguished from Christian baptism; 4) is the symbol
of the renewal and purification of heart; 5) with it was combined
the naming of the cliild; 6) the giving of a name was an act of
religious confession; 7) the dependent position of woman in
the 0. T.]
CHAPTER XIV.
DIVINE RETEIBUTION.
§ 89. Blessing and Curse.
As the people bound themselves when the covenant
was concluded to observe the law, so Jehovah on His
part bmds Himself to fulfil to the nation, so long as
it observes its obligations, all the promises He makes,
and to grant it the fullness of His blessing; but in the
opposite case, to execute on the people the punish-
ment of a breach of the covenant (Lev. 26: 23, 24;
Deut. 32: 21; Ps. 18: 26: 27).
The divine blessing in a single word is Life (Deut. 30:
15, 16). Life embraces all the good tilings that per-
tain to earthly prosperity: long life (Deut. 4: 40),
children, fertility of the soil, victory over enemies
(Lev. 26: 3, 4; Deut. 28: 1—14). But the earthly
good tilings form a state of felicity only when the
possession of them is united with the experience of the
gracious presence of the covenant God, so that they
are pledges of His favor.
On the other hand, the result of the breaking of the
co^^Qnani on the part of the people issues in the with-
drawal of all these blessings, shortening of life, childless-
ness, scarcity and famine, — that Israel may know
that it possesses all natural blessings onlj^ as a gift of
God (Hos. 2: 8-12); also political misfortune, and
defeat by foes. Four judicial plagues are prominently
mentioned in Ezek. 14: 21 and other passages,— the
sword, famine, wild beasts, and pestilence.
[Analysis: 1) The conditions of the covenant; 2) in what the
divine blessing was to consist; 3) the punishment threatened if
the covenant is broken ; 4) the four judicial plagues.]
THE MOSAIC DOCTRINE OF RETHIBUTION.
129
§ 90. Solution of the Apparent Contradiction between Di-
vine Election and the Mosaic Doctrine of Retribution.
But if Israel by breaking the covenant is exposed
to God's judgment and rejected, this seems to nuUify
God's decree of election and the realization of the aim
of His kingdom, which, though secured by God's
covenant oath, is again dependent on man's action.
God's compassionate love is higher than His penal justice
(Ex. 34: 6, 7). God's faithfulness cannot be broken
by man's faithlessness. His judgments have a fixed
end, and therefore are always in measure, as is taught
in the beautiful parable in Isa. 28: 23-29. They are
so executed that Israel is thereby brought back to
God, and the perfecting of God's kingdom secured.
Israel is not annihilated in the judgment; even in
banishment, in dispersion among the nations, it must
not coalesce with them, but be preserved as a sepa-
rate nation for the fulfilment of its vocation. Accord-
ing to Dent. 30: 1-6, the final restoration of the people
is an act of God, but is effected by ethical means, through
the conversion of the people, for the order of God's
kingdom excludes all magical means. Thus, in spite
of man's sin and faithlessness, the realization of the
divine decree of election, the perfecting of the people
of God, is firmly based on God's faithfulness and mer-
cy (Rom. 11: 25-36).
[Analysis: 1) The aim of God's kingdom will be realized; 2)
God's faithfulness is not broken by man's faithlessness; 3) the
aim of God's judgments; 4) there shall be a final restoration of
God's people; 5) an act of God effected by ethical means; 6) the
meaning of Isa. 28: 23-29; 7) of Rom. 11: 25-86.]
SECTION IV.
THE THEOCRACY.
§ 91. The Idea of the Divine Kingship.
The form of government in the commonwealth
founded by Moses is the government of God—t^e the-
ocracy. Jehovah is the King of Israel. The Old Testa-
ment idea of the divine kingship expresses, not God's
general relation of power toward the world (as being
its creator and preserver), but the special relation of
His government toward His elect people. The real
beginning of His kingly rule was on that day on
which He bound the tribes of Israel into a commu-
nity by the promulgation of the law and the forming
of the legal covenant: ''And He was Kingin Jeshu-
run" (Deut. 33: 5). (It is wrong to take Moses for
the subject). Although Jehovah has been the King
of His people in all ages (Ps. 74: 12), He will not be-
come the King of nations until a future time, when
He comes in the last revelation of His Kingdom. As
King, He is the Lawgiver and Judge of His people (Isa.
33: 22). As King, God is also the leader of His people's
army. Israel forms the hosts of Jehovah (Ex. 12. 41).
[Analysis: 1) The meaning and derivation of "theocracy"; 2)
the beginning of the kingly rule; 3) as king He is the lawgiver
and judge; 4) and the leader of the armiee of Israel.]
CHAPTER XV.
THEOCRATIC ORGANIZATION OF THE PEOPLE.
§ 92. The Division into Tribes. Israel's Representation
before Jehovah.
Although Levi received no special tribal territory,
the number twelve still remains for all political rela-
tions, and wherever Levi is numbered, the two tribes
of Joseph appear as only one. This number twelve
is so entirely identified with the normal state of the
theocracy, that it continues to be the signature of
God's people even in prophecy. In the New Testa-
men, too, the twelve tribes continue to be the type of
the covenant people (Acts 26: 7; Rev. 7: 4-8), to which
the number of the apostles corresponds.
These twelve tribes together form the priestly king-
dom (Ex. 19: 6). On account of their uncleanness
and sinfulness the congregation are able to draw near
to God only by means oioi propitiation. A whole series
of institutions is directed to such propitiation; but
this thought is pre-eminently expressed by the intro-
duction of a representative body between Jehovah and
the people. There are three grades in the representa-
tion of the people before Jehovah: 1) Levi as a tribe
appears in a mediatorial position between Jehovah
and the people (Ex. 32: 26-30); 2) the race of Aaron
rises from its midst with a specific priestly preroga-
tive (Ex. 28: 1: Num. 18: 7); 3) Me office of high priest
which is the culmination of the priesthood.
[Analysis: 1) The number twelve; 2) the twelve tribes form the
priestly kingdom ; 3) a propitiation necessary ; 4) there must be
a representative body between God and His people; 5) three
grades in this representation.]
132 * THE ORDINANCES OF MOSAISM.
§ 93. The Mode and Meaning of the Representation of
Israel by the Levites.
We are told, in Ex. 13, that from the night in which
Israel was redeemed, all the first-born males among
man and beast were dedicated to Jehovah. But in-
stead of all the first-born sons then living from a
month old and upward, He accepts the Levites as a
standing gift of the people (Num. 8: 16); and instead
of the people's cattle, he takes the cattle of the Levites
(Num. 3: 11-13). (Since the number of first-born
sons in the nation amounts to 22,273, and the num-
ber of the Levites, on the contrary, only to 22,000,
the over-plus is compensated b}^ a fine of five shekels
apiece, to be paid to Aaron and his sons (Num. 3:
43-51).
The Levites were thus, 1) the living sacrifice by
which the people rendered payment to Jehovah for
owing their existence to Him ; and 2) since the Le-
vites, in consequence of this, performed in the sanctu-
ary the service which the people ought to have ren-
dered through their first-born, but could not on ac-
count of their uncleanness (Num. 18: 22, 23), they
serve, in their substitution, as a covering or an atone-
ment also for the people who come near to the sanc-
tuary (Num. 8: 19).
The middle books of the Pentateuch give special
emphasis to the difference between the priests and the
Levites, while Deuteronomy, on the contrary, takes
priests and Levites together, as one holy estate in
distinction from the people. These two views do not
contradict, but supplement each other. Deuterono-
my, however, very clearly distinguishes between the
Levites who were priests and those who were not
(Deut. 18: 3-8; 27: 9, 12). ^
1 Delitzsch in Riehm : That the legislation in the middle books
OFFICIAL FUNCTION OF THELEVITES. 133
[Analysis: 1) The Levites were accepted instead of all the first-
born; 2) they were the living sacrifice offered by the people; 3)
they were substitutes for the people; 4) difference of presentation
between the books of the Pentateuch; 5) these views supplement
each other; 6) the priestly legislation does not date from the
time of Ezekiel or from a later time.]
§ 94. Official Function, Dedication, and Social Position of
the Levites.
The official functions of the Levites are definitely dis-
tinguished from those of the priests. The charge "of
everything of the altar, and of that within the veil"
(Num. 18: 7), falls exclusively to the priests. On the
contrary, the service of the Levites is called the ser-
vice of Jehovah's tabernacle, or of the tent of meeting
(Num. 1: 53; 16: 9; 18: 4), anu was organized in a
military manner. During the wandering in the wil-
derness, the Levites had the charge of the taking
down, carrying, and setting up of the holy tabernacle
(Num. 1: 50-53); also of the carrying of the sacred
furniture, particularly the ark of the covenant (Deut.
10: 8: 31: 25). The division of '^'lese duties among
the three Levitical families is given in Num. 3: 25-37;
4: 1-49. But the functions mentioned in the book of
Numbers refer only to the time of the people's wander-
ing. There are no directions in the Pentateuch con-
cerning the services of the Levites during the settle-
ment of the people of the Holy Land.^
The act of the consecration of the Levites is described
in Num. 8: 5-22. The purification falls into three
of the Pentateuch is not of a date after the time of Ezekiel follows
necessarily from the fact that the official position and division of
the Levites after the exile was in a stage of development, w^hich is
not reflected, either as to fact or language, in the legislation.
* The Levites were called to this service from their thirtieth to
their fiftieth year (Num. 4: 3, 23, 30), but from Num. 8: 24, 25,
we infer that the young men began their training for entering
pn the full service, in their twenty-fifth year.
134 THE ORDINANCES OF MOSAISM.
parts (Num. 8: 7): 1) sprinkling; 2) shaving: 3) wash-
ing of clothes. Their presentation before the Lord is
divided into the following ceremonies : 1) the faying on
of hands; 2) the wave offering;^ 3) the sinoffering ; 4)
the burnt offering (Num. 8: 10-12).
In order that the tribe of Levi might be withdrawn
from ordinary labor and give itself completely to its
sacred vocation, no inheritance as a tribe was assigned
to it (Num. 18: 23). The tribe is scattered among all
the other tribes, in the territories of which it received
48 towns with their suburbs for pasturages (Num.
35: 6, 7), of which six are appointed to be cities of
refuge. In this law, moreover, the priests are included
along with the Levites. The tithes were assigned to
them for their support, which, moreover, was not an
over-abundant endowment, so that the tribe of Levi
was often subjected to unavoidable poverty. (Deut.
12: 19; 14: 27, 29).
[Analysis: 1) The duty of the priests; 2) the service of the
Levites; 3) the special charge of each of the three Levitical fami-
lies; 4) time of service; 5) the purification falls into three parts;
6) with the presentation four ceremonies were connected: 7) the
reason no inheritance was given to them; 8) place oi residence;
9) their support.]
§ 95. The Priesthood.
The design of the priestly vocation is 1) to repre-
sent the nation as a holy congregation before Jeho-
vah, ^^1th full divine authority (Deut. 18: 5), and to
open up for it access to its God. In the functions of
his office the priest is the medium of the intercourse
which takes place in worship between Jehovah and
the congregation, and which on account of the sinful-
ness of the congregation, becomes a service of atone-
1 A waving, — in the case of the Levites, it is generally under-
stood as a simple leading backward and forward.
THE PRIESTHOOD. 135
ment. Besides this mediatorial calling, the priest
has 2) the office of teacher and interpreter of the law
(Lev. 10: 11), in which respect he has to accomplish
a divine mission to the people. The two sides of the
priestly calling; are embraced together in Dent. 33: 10.
The divine calHng to the priesthood is connected
with the natural propagation of Aaron's family.
The holiness of the priesthood was to be reflected in
the whole appearance of the priests, which was to
suggest the highest purity and exclusive devotion to
God. To this refer all the provisions as to the bodily
condiiion and regulation of life of the priests. The law
treats of the bodily condition of the priests in Lev.
21: 16-24. The provisions for the regulation of life are
given in Lev. 21: 1-9. Propriety and order must rule
in the priest's family (Lev. 21: 9). Dietetic directions
are given in Lev. 10: 9, 10; 22: 8. It is supposed that
the rule concerning the age of the Levites (30-50,
Num. 4: 3, 23, 30) held good of the priest?, also.
The consecration of the priests is prescribed in Ex.
29: 1-37. The consecration consists of two classes
of acts :
1) The real consecration of the person to the priest-
ly office in three acts: 1) washing, a symbol of spirit-
ual cleansing; 2) robing, consisting in putting on
four articles of dress (Ex. 28: 40-42) of fine, shining
white linen (Ex. 28: 39), as a symbol of purity; 3)
the priestly anointing, a symbol of the communication
of the Divine Spirit which operates in the priestly
office.
2) A three- fold offering, by which the persons thus
consecrated were put into all the functions and rights
of the priesthood : 1) the sin-offering (Lev. 8: 14, 15);
2) the burnt-offering; 3) a modified thank offering
(Lev. 8: 22-28), which last was the specific sacrifice
136 THE ORDINANCES OF MOSAISM.
for the consecration of the priests. (Blood was
sprinkled upon the ear of the priest, because he must
at all times hearken to the holy voice of God ; upon
the hand, because he must execute God's commands,
and especially the priestly functions ; upon the foot,
because he must walk rightly and holily). The con-
clusion of the festival is the sacrificial meal. The
duration of the consecration is fixed at seven days
(Ex. 29: 35-37). Although the priestly service de-
mands only outward puritj^ and perfection, still the
real subjective qua/if/cat/on for the priesthood lies in the
undivided devotion to God (Lev. 10: 3).
For their maintenance the priests received as dwelling
places 13 of the towns which were given totheLevites
(Josh. 21: 4), and the Levites had to give them tithes
of their tithes, and they received the gifts of the
first-fruits, and certain parts of the offerings. In com-
parison with the endowments of the priestly caste in
many other ancient nations, the provision for the
Levitical priests is very moderate.
[Analysis: 1) The two-fold office of the priest; 2) all the priests
were of the family of Aaron; 3) laws pertaining to the bodily
condition of the priests; 4) to the regulation of the life; 5) dietetic
directions; 6) the three acts of consecration ; 7) a three-fold offer-
ing; 8) significance of certain symbolical actions; 9) subjective
qualification for the priesthood; 10) the maintenance of the
priests.]
§ 96. The High Priest.
In the high priest (Lev. 21: 10) are united the media-
tor ship by which the people are represented before
God, and the official priestly sanctity by which they
are reconciled. He is said to bear the iniquity of the
holy things (Ex. 28: 38). Thus the whole reconciling
and sanctifying effect of the sacrifices is dependent on
the existence of a personally reconciling mediator-
THE HIGH PRIEST. 137
ship before God ; and here the Old Covenant proclaims
its inadequacy to effect a true reconciliation, in the
fact that even the high priest himself has need of
reconciliation and purification by the blood of sacri-
fices, as one subject to sin and weakness (compare
Heb. 5:3).
As the "holy one of Jehovah" (Ps. 106: 16) he must
awaken, by his whole appearance, an impression of
the highest purity and exclusive devotion to God. To
this end are directed 1) all the regulations in regard
to his personal condition and mode of life, which in
respect to descent and bodily constitution do not
differ from that of other priests. 2) The rules, how-
ever, in Lev. 21: 10-15, in regard to the ordering of
his life, relate exclusively to the high priest.
The high priest's consecration to his o^'ce differed
from that of the common priests with reference to the
robing and anointing. On his robing, see Ex. 29: 5—9;
Num. 20: 26-28 (in this latter passage we see that
the transference of the office of high priest from Aaron
to Eleazar took place by the transference of the orna-
ments of office). Without the ornaments of his
office, the high priest is simply a private individual,
who, as such, cannot intercede for the people ; there-
fore he is threatened with death, if he appear before
Jehovah without them. The description of the high
priest's official garments is given in Ex. 28 and 39.
This dress of office has received very various sym-
bolic interpretations. The reference to the reconciling
mediatorship is especially marked by the fact that
the high priest, when clothed with the Ephod, bears
the names of the twelve tribes on his heart and shoul-
ders. This latter fact is meant to signify that he as
Mediator carries, as it were, the people of God,— that,
so to speak, the people lie as a burden on him.
138 THE ORDINANCES OF MOSAISM.
From* his uncfion,v:hich followed his robing, the high
priest was called "the anointed priest."
In addition to the functions of the common priests,
the service on the day of atonement, and the Urim
and Thummim, were especially assigned to the high
priest.
[Analysis: 1) The office of the high priest; 2) thoO. T. proclaims
that it cannot effect a true reconciliation ; 3) he is the "holy one
of Jehovah"; 4) special rules regarding his life; 5) consecration
to his office: 6) his official garments; 7) the symbolic meaning
of the Ephod; 8) the special functions of the high priest.]
k
CHAPTER XVI.
THE THEOCRATIC AUTHORITY.
§ 97. The Legislative Authority.
In virtue of the principles of the theocracy, a// the
powers In the Sfate are united in Jehovah; even when the
congregation acts, it is in His name. He is first the
Lawgiver (Isa. 33: 22). His legislative power He exer-
cised through liHoses. The fundamental law given
through him is inviolably valid for all time. In the
development of the theocracy, the need of receiving an
immediate proclamation of Jehovah's kingly will
must always appear. This need was met by the Urim
and Thummim, through which the high priest, in whose
breastplate they were set, received the decision of Je-
hovah (Num. 27: 21); and this is why the breastplate
bears the name of ^'the breastplate of judgment"
(Ex. 28: 30). The term Urim refers to the divine il-
lumination, Thummim to the unimpeachable correct-
ness of the decision (1 Sam. 14: 41). It cannot be
determined from the Old Testament how the decision
took place, whether the divine answer came by the
sparkling of the jewels (Kabbinical tradition), or by
divine inspiration of the high priest (so Baehr and
Hengstenberg). It is not quite clear from Ex. 28: 30;
Lev. 8: 8, whether the Urim and Thummim were dif-
ferent from the gems of the breastplate or not. We
should expect to have a more particular description
of them if they were anything distinct.
The sacred lot seems to have been different from the
Urim and Thummim. It was employed at the divi-
140 THE ORDINANCES OF MOSAISM.
sion of the tribal territories (Num. 26: 55, 56); to
discover the guilty one who had brought a curse on
the people (Josh. 7. 14, 15); and in 1 Sam. 14; 41
(unless the Urim and Thummim are meant) and at the
election of the king (1 Sam. 10: 20, 21). (See also
Prov. 18: 18). These methods of inquiring into the
Divine Will will retire into the background the more
prophecy becomes prominent. We read in Deut. 18 :
18-20, how IMoses, before parting from the people,
led them to look for the sending forth of new organs
of revelation, — the prophets.
[Analysis: 1) Jehovah is at the head of the state; 2) He exercised
His legislative power through Moses; 3) immediate decisions
were given through the Urim and Thummim ; 4) the use of the
sacred lot.]
§ 98. The Principle and Organization of the Administration
of Justice.
The administration of justice is, in virtue of the
principles of theocracy, only an efflux of the divine
judgment. "The judgment is God's" (Deut. 1: 17); to
seek justice is to inquire of God (Ex. 18: 15), etc. The
theocratic ordinances limit the power of the head of
a family, bj^ taking from him (Deut. 21: 18, 19; Ex.
21: 20) the power over liie and death of those belong-
ing to him, w^hich he still exercised in the time of the
patriarchs (Gen. 38: 24). L^^nch law is also forbid-
den because the office of avenger is God's alone (Lev.
19: 18). The old custom of blood revenge is indeed
retained, but it is subjected to theocratic regulations.
With regard to the organization of the courts of
justice, we must distinguish in the Pentateuch the
provisions given only for the march through the
wilderness, and the regulations in Deuteronomy,
which had reference to later circumstances.
In these later regulations the administration of
THE COURSE OF JUSTICE AND PUNISHMENT. 141
justice is placed in the hands of the congregation. A
very vivid description of the way in which courts were
held in Israel is given by the story of the judgment of
Naboth (1 Kings 21: 1-16). The community exer-
cises its judicial power by special judges, who are
placed in all the gates (Deut. 16: 18).
[Analysis: 1) It is God who gives judgment ; 2) the power over
life and death; 3) lynch law; 4) blood revenge; 5) courts of
justice in the wilderness; 6) the regulations in Deuteronomy; 7)
thejudgment of Naboth; 8) the judges in the gates.]
§ 99. The Course of Justice and Punishment
The course of justice is very simple. The parties
must both appear in person before the judge, and the
complaint is brought before the judges by word of
mouth, either by the parties (Deut. 21: 20; 22: 16), or
by others (Deut. 25: 1). The business of the judge
is to hear and thoroughly investigate. The testimo-
ny of witnesses is the most usual form of evidence and
special emphasis is laid upon this. It is enacted that
two or three witnesses shall be brought (Deut. 19: 15),
particularly in criminal cases (Num. 35: 30; Deut 17:
6). The oath is also a means of evidence (oath of
purgation, Ex. 22: 6-10); adjuration of a wife who
was accused of adultery (Num. 5: 11-31). The form
of the sentence of judgment is not laid down. As a
rule, execution immediately followed on condemna-
tion (Num. 15: 36; Deut. 22: 18; 25: 2).
The Mosaic principle of punishment is the jus talionis:
it shall be done to him who has offended as he has
done (Ex. 21: 23-25); in other words, the pun-
ishment is a retribution corresponding in quantity
and quality to the Avicked deed. The punishment of
death is attached apparently to a large number of
crimes (Ex. 21: 12-29; Lev. 20: 1-27; etc.). In gener-
al, in all cases where the people did not execute judg-
142 THE ORDINANCES OF MOSAISM.
ment on the transgressor, Jehovah Himself reserves
the exercise of justice (see, as main passage, Lev. 20:
4-6).
In the Mosaic law, corporal chastisement (stripes) ap-
pears as another form of punishment (Dent. 25: 2, 3),
also fines (Ex. 21: 22; Lev. 24: 18). The Jus talionis
was to be recognized in case of bodily injury (Ex. 21:
23-25). There occurs also the judicial selling of a
guilty person.
AVith what emphasis the law demands the strict
and impartial administration of justice, especially
mth reference to the poor, see Ex. 23: 6-8; Lev. 19:
15; etc.
[Analysis: 1) The different features of a trial; 2) the oath; 3)
the execution of the punishment; 4) the jus talionis; 5) the punish-
ment of death ; 6) the corporal chastisement; 7) justice must be
shown to the poor.]
§ 100. The Executive Power.
Mosaic theocracy presents the peculiar phenomenon
of being originally unprovided with a definite office
for executing the power of the state. The princes of
the tribes (spoken of in Num. 1: 16, 44; and else-
where) form no theocratic body. Jehovah Himself
acts, as circumstances demand, in the immediate ex-
ercise of power, in order to execute His kingly will and
to maintain the covenant law ; but for the rest, only
the assurance is exj)ressed (Num. 27: 16, 17) that
Jehovah will not leave His congregation as a flock
without a shepherd, but will always, again and again,
appoint a leader over them and endoAV him with His
Spirit, as He raised up Joshua in Moses' stead, and
afterward the Judges. This want of a regular execu-
tive in the Mosaic constitution has been thought very
remarkable. But the theocratic constitution does
not rest on the calculations of a clever founder of
THE EXECUTIVE POWER. 143
religion, but on tlie stability of the counsel of revela-
tion.
Yet Deuteronomy, in the law concerning a king (Deut.
17: 14-20) leaves open the possibility of setting up
an earthly kingship (compare, moreover, the previous
prophecy in Gen. 17: 6, 16; 35: 11; Num. 24: 17).
This future kingship is, however, subjected strictly to
the theocratic principle. The people shall only set
over them as king one whom Jehovah shall choose out of
their midst. Moreover, the stability of his kingship
and its descent to his children are to depend on his
obedience to the law.
[Analysis: 1) No provision was made for executing the power
of the state; 2) Jehovah Himself acts ; 3) He promises to appoint a
leader ; 4) the law concerning a king ; 5) the king is strictly sub-
jected to the theocratic principle.]
CHAPTER XVII.
THE ORGANIZATION OF THE FAMILY.
§ 101. The Subdivisions of the Tribes. The Principles and
Division of Mosaic Family Law.
The tribes are naturally divided into clans; these
into families or houses, generally called fathers' houses;
then follows the various householders, with those that
belong to them.
Each family forms a self-contained whole, which, so
far as possible, is to be preserved in its integrity.
Each Israelite is a citizen of the theocracy only by
being a member of a certain clan of the covenant
people; hence the value of genealogical tables.
The following points are the most important for
BibKcal Theology: 1) The law of marriage; 2) The
relation of parents and children; 3) The law of in-
heritance, and the provisions touching the continu-
ance of a family and its possessions, (the avenging of
blood goes along with this); 4) the law concerning
servants.
[Analysis: 1)' Subdivisions of the tribes; 2) the value ot genea-
logical tables ; 3) principal points of discussion.]
§ 102. The Contracting of Marriage. The Dependent Po-
sition of the Wife, and the Forms of the Marriage Contract.
In the Mosaic law, woman apj)ears not, indeed, in
the position of degradation which she has among
most other Oriental nations, but siill .dependent, inas-
much as her will is subject before marriage to the will
of her father, and after marriage to the will of her
BARS TO MARRIAGE.
145
husband ; it is only when this tie is loosed that the
wife holds a position of relative independence (Num.
30: 4-10). The marriage contract is generally supposed
to have rested on a bargain made between the par-
ents of the bride and bridegroom, in virtue of which a
price was paid to the father of the bride for his daugh-
ter, but according to others no such selling took
place, a present being sent to the bride by the bride-
groom, to which other presents were added for the
kinsfolk of the bride (Gen. 24: 53, 58; 34: 12). It is
most probable that various forms of t/ie marriage con-
tract existed side by side. The law does not require
a religious consecration of the matrimonial tie; but it is
clear from Mai. 2: 14 that marriage was to be regard-
ed a divinely sanctioned bond. Purity of entrance
into the married state is guarded by such laws as
Deut. 22: 13-21, 28, 29. The wife's dependent place
favored the spread of polygamy, although this was in
contradiction to the Mosaic idea (§69).
[Analysis: 1) "Woman is regarded as dependent; 2) the nature
of the marriage contract; 3) various forms of this contract; 4)
marriage was regarded as a divinely sanctioned bond; 5) polyg-
amy a contradiction to the Mosaic idea.]
§ 103. Bars to Marriage.
In the Mosaic law of marriage, the provisions con-
cerning obstacles to marriage occupy an important
place. These provisions are contained in Lev. 18: 6
-18; 20: 11-21; Deut. 27: 20, 22, 23. All marriages
with near relations are forbidden, and that not only
with blood relations, but also with connections by
affinity. The marriage of uncle and niece (Lev. 18:
6-13), with the widow of a mother's brother, and a
wife's sister after the wife's death, was allowed (Lev.
18: 18). This last case is the famous point of con
troversy so often discussed in the EngUsh Parlia-
14:6 THE ORDINANCES OF MOSAISM.
ment. But there can be no doubt upon the matter
whatever. The prohibition mentioned in Lev. 18: 18
(that a man may not marry two sisters), refers ex-
pressly only to the time when the wife still lives;
marrying both at the same time, as the patriarch
Jacob did, was forbidden.
The moral ground of these prohibitions can be no
other than the fact that moral fellowship is already
constituted through the natural forms of near rela-
tionship, which would be disturbed by the matrimoni-
al bond. Abraham's marriage with his half-sister,
for this is the most probable view of his relation to
Sarah, seems, from the Mosaic standpoint, to have
been justified mainly because through it alone the
pollution of the race of revelation by heathen elements
was prevented (Gen. 24: 3).
[Analysis : 1) Marriages forbidden in the 0. T. 2) a famous point
of controversy ; 3) the moral ground of these prohibitions.]
§ 104. The Dissolution of Marriage.
The dissolution of marriage can take place in two
ways: 1) By the disruption in fact of the matri-
monial bond by the sin of adultery; 2) By a divorce
drawn up in a definite form.
1) In the Mosaic law, adultery is so understood that
it is only committed through the unchastity of a wife.
On the part of the husband, adultery is committed
onlj^when he dishonors the /iree wife of another; in this
case both are to be punished ^\ith death (Lev. 20: 10;
Dent. 22: 22). B^^ simple unchastity the husband
offends indeed against the law which condemns as an
abomiuation all fornication, and especially such pros-
titution as was committed among the neighboring
heathen nations (Lev. 19: 29; Deut. 23: 18), but not
THE RELATION OF PARENTS TO CHILDREN. 147
against his Avife. For the trial of a woman suspected
of adultery see Num. 5: 11-31.
2) Divorce. The right of divorce belongs to the hus-
band only ; divorce is therefore called the dismissal
of a wife. This right of dismissing a wife is not form-
ally sanctioned by the law, but is presupposed as ex-
isting, and is Umited not only by the law in Deut. 22:
19, 29, but even in the law of divorce (Deut. 24: 1-4).
Such a formal bill of divorcement, no doubt, often pre-
vented a too hasty repudiation. Deut. 24: 1 assigns
as the ground which renders divorce admissible ''some
unseemly thing in the woman." The school of Hillel
understood the expression to mean any matter of
offence {e.g., if the wife have let the dinner burn; etc.);
but the school of Shammai referred it to really shame-
ful conduct, such as unchaste behavior and the like.
It is clear that this whole matter of divorce does
not correspond to the idea of marriage proper in the
Old Testament (§ 69), and this is expressly set forth
by Christ (Matt. 19:3-8).
[Analysis: 1) The Mosaic law of adultery; 2) of divorce; 3)
Christ's teaching.]
§ 105. The Relation of Parents to Children.
The same promise is given to the honoring of par-
ents as to the obedience to the divine will in general
(Ex. 20: 12, compared mth Deut. 4: 40; 6. 2; etc.).
Breach of the reverence due to parents is punished in
the same way as offences against the reverence due
to God (Ex. 21: 15, 17; Lev. 20: 9). Still the parents
have only such rights over their children as is con-
sistent with the acknowledgment of God's higher
right of property, which is sealed by circumcision.
This thought is conveyed particularly in the ordi-
nance with reference to the redemption of the first-
148 THE ORDINANCES OF MOSAISM.
born sons. Even the human right of parents over
their children is limited, in particular, the father has
no right over the life and death of his children (such
as the Roman law concedes) Deut. 21: 18-21).
The law also requires that a holy education in the
fear and love of God be given to children (Deut. 4:
9, 10; 6: 6, 7; etc.). But the Pentateuch knows noth-
of a scholastic inculcation of the divine laws; it knows
no formal religious instruction at all. * The Rabbin-
ical tradition that boys in their twelfth year were
bound to fulfil the law may be very ancient, but the
earliest indication of this rule which we have is in the
history of Jesus when He was twelve years old, and
in Josephus' statement, that Samuel was called to be
a prophet in the twelfth year of his life.
[Analysis: 1) Duty of honoring parents; 2) human right of pa-
rents is Hniited; 3) children must be educated in the fear ol God;
4) singing a factor in education ; 5) Rabbinical tradition.]
§ 106. The Law of Inheritance. Laws Concerning Heiress-
es and the Levirate Marriage.
After the father's death the first-born son is the head
of the family. By the law in Deut. 21: 17, the provi-
sion that the first-born son is to receive a double in-
heritance is confirmed, and therefore, doubtless, the
care of the mother and unmarried sisters, was in-
cumbent on him. For the rest, the rule of inheritance
was apparently that the other sons inherited equally.
For the law of inheritance if an Israelite left behind
no son, see Num. 27: 8-11. Daughters who were
heiresses might marry only men of the tribe of their
father (Num. 36: 6-12).
Side by side with this last ordinance stands the
1 Singing was a vehicle for the propagation of religious knowl-
edge, which we can show to have been cultivated* in Israel from
the earliest period of the nation's history.
PRESERVATION OF THE FAMILY INHERITANCE. 149
Lev/rate law which was legally sanctioned by Deut. 25:
5-10. The exposition of this law is doubtful. Some
hold that this law applied only to that brother who
w^as in the position to take up the Levirate duty.^
Again the words, "if he have no son," are understood
by the Jewish and many Christian expositors of child-
lessness in general, so that if there was a daughter to
be heiress, no Levirate marriage would be entered
on; and for this the expressions in Matt. 22: 25
("having no seed") and Luke 20: 28 ("childless")
seem^to speak. This passage in the Gospels shows
that the Levirate law was still in force in the time of
Jesus.
[Analysis: 1) The first-born was the head of the family; 2) the
law of inheritance; o) the Levirate law; 4) explanation of the
law.]
§ 107. Provisions concerning the Preservation of the
Family Inheritance.
An inheritance was given to each family by Jehovah
for its subsistence, as a hereditary feudal holding,
and was therefore in itself inalienable,— which was to
be preserved entire as far as possible. When an
Israelite is compelled by poverty to alienate his in-
heritance, this is only for a time, and the land itself
is never actually sold, but only what it bore (Lev.
25:23-28). It might be redeemed at any time by
the former possessor or by his nearest relative. In
the year of Jubilee, moreover, every possession is to
return to the family to which it originally belonged,
without redemption.
[Analysis: 1) Property was preserved to each individual family;
2) land could never be absolutely sold ; 3) fell back to the original
owner in the year of Jubilee.]
1 If the dead man left no brother who could enter on the duty
of marriage, the obligation passed to the nearest relative, who
received by the marriage also the right of inheritance.
150 THE ORDINANCES OF MOSAISM.
§ 108. The Avenging of Blood.
In the Old Testament, blood revenge is taken for
granted as a very ancient custom (Gen. 27: 45).
Mosaism, in virtue of its idea of man as the divine
image, discerns in murder, a transgression against
the Creator and Lord of human life (Gen. 9: 5, 6),
which must be atoned for "by the blood of him that
shed it" (Num. 35: 33). * But because the family is
injured at the same time by the murder, the execution
of the avenging of blood is laid on "the avenger of
blood," the nearest blood relation, who has to re-
deem the blood taken from the family by the crime
committed. The laws regulating the avenging of
blood are found in Ex. 21: 12-14; Num. 35: 9. 34;
Deut. 19: 1-13.
1) Two kinds of murder are distinguished (Num. 35:
9-34) in reference to which the avenging of blood is
commanded— aj if any one strike another in such a
way that death may be foreseen to be the probable
consequence (vv. 16-18); b) if one has slain another
out of hatred, or by design, or out of enmity (vv. 20,
21). On the other hand, in order to shelter from
vengeance him who has slain a man undesignedly and
inadvertently, the law provided for the selection of six
free cities, three on the east, and three on the west
side of the Jordan (Deut. 4: 41-43; Josh. 20: 1-9).
2) For intentional murder, there was no other expia-
tion than the blood of the manslayer (Num. 35:
31,33).
3) The avenging of blood falls upon the doer alone,
the avenger of blood was not allowed to lay hands
on the family of the murderer. That the custom was
1 Human life is so sacred that even the animal by which a man
is killed must be stoned, Ex. 21: 28-32; Gen. 9: 5.
BONDAGE IN THE TIME OF THE PATRIARCHS, 151
still in force in David's time appears from 2 Sam. 14:
6-11.
[Analysis: 1) Blood revenge a very ancient custom; 2) underly-
ing principle; 8) the avenger is the nearest blood relation ; 4) the
laws regulating the custom; 5) two kinds of murder distinguished;
6) the case of an accidental killing; 7) no expiation for intention-
al murder; 8) the family of the murderer could not be touched;
9) custom existed for a long time.]
§ 109. Bondage in the Time of the Patriarchs. The Prin-
ciples of the Rights of Bondmen.
The Old Testament, in ascribing to man the nature
and dignity of one made in the image of God, — in
teaching, further, the descent of all mankind from
one blood,— pronounces in advance that slavery is
inadmissible. It is designated as a curse when a race
falls into slavery (Gen. 9: 25, 27). Nevertheless, the
existence of a state of servitude is presupposed in the
Old Testament. How elevated, however, the position
of the slave is in the time of the patriarchs is shown
specially in the beautiful picture of Abraham's trust-
ed servant, drawn in Gen, 24, no doubt the Eliezer of
Gen. 15: 2, whom Abraham for want of a son had
appointed as his heir.
The rights of the class of servants are more exactly
defined by the law: and a distinction is made between
those servants who were Israelites by birth, and the
slaves obtained by purchase or as a booty from
other nations. These regulations rest on a iwofold
principle:
1) That bondage, in a strict sense, all human servi-
tude was for Israel completely done away with (Lev.
25: 42, 55; 26: 13). With reference, however, to the
whole profane mass of the Gentiles, slavery is recog-
nized as allowable (Lev. 25: 44-46).
2) The Israelites, since they themselves were at one
152 THE ORDINANCES OF MOSAISM.
time slaves and strangers in Egypt, are to treat ser-
vants and strangers in a humane way (Ex. 22: 21;
Deut. 15: 12-15; etc.).
[Analysis: 1) The 0. T. in advance regards slavery as wrong;
2) it is, however, presupposed; 3) Eliezer; 4) the regulations in
the law rest on a twofold principle.]
§ 110. The Regulations Concerning Hebrew Servants.
An Israelite might in a legal way become a slave,
either by selling himself on account of poverty (Lev.
25; 39, 47), or by being sold by judicial decree on ac-
count of inability to make compensation for a theft
committed (Ex. 22:3).
There are two different ordinances in the Penta-
teuch concerning the way in which an Israelite who
had fallen into slavery was to be treated, — the one in
Ex. 21: 1-11, and Deut. 15: 12-18; and the other in
Lev. 25: 39-55.
The apparent contradiction between the two laws
is to be solved (with J. D. Michaelis, Hengstenberg,
and others), by supposing that during the first forty-
four years of a period of jubilee, the emancipation of
servants was entirely regulated by the laws in Ex.
21: 1-11 and Deut. 15: 12-18; while, on the contra-
ry, the year of jubilee brought freedom to those who
fell in servitude in the last years of the period of
jubilee, even if they had not served for six years.
[Analysis: An Israelite legally might become a slave in two
ways ; 2) there are two different ordinances given; 3) solution of
the apparent contradiction.]
§ 111. The Position of Servants not Israelites.
By circumcision slaves obtained a right to partake
of the Passover (Ex. 12: 44); they were thus, in dis-
tinction from aliens and day-laborers (Ex. 12: 45), to
be treated as members of the family. It is not lawful
THE POSITION OF SERVANTS NOT ISRAELITES. 153
to interfere A\ith the Sabbath rest of the slaves (Deut.
5: 14). The master had no right over the life of the
slave (Ex. 21; 12, 20, 21). The humane treatment of
slaves required by the law is also inculcated elsewhere
in the Old Testament (Job. 31: 13-15). The ad-
monitions not to treat a slave too delicately (Prov.
29: 19, 21) are to be regarded as a parallel with
those touching the training of children. ^
[Analysis: 1) Slaves, not Israelites, might obtain a right to par-
take of the Passover; 2) their treatment; 3) their number in
Solomon's time.]
1 In time there arose in the Hebrew state a sort of helot class,
mentioned esyjeciallv in the time of David (2 Chron. 2: 17; 2 Sam.
20: 24) and Solomon (1 Kings 9: 20, 21; 2 Chron. 8: 7, 8). This
class, which was bound to compulsory labor and employed on the
public works, is estimated in 2 Chron. 2: 17, at 153,600 persons.
SECTION V.
THE MOSAIC PUBLIC WORSHIP.
§ 112. General Introductory Remarks. Essential Character
of this Worship.
Although the whole life of the Israelite must be
shaped as a service paid to God, yet there exists a
special series of institutions, in which special expres-
sion is given to the fundamental idea of the theocra-
cy,—that Israel must consecrate to God, itself and
all that it has. These institutions of public Avorship,
however, must not be looked at in their bare outward
form, but must be referred to the idea of the cove-
nant, and interpreted from it— for the aim of the
covenant is sanctification — and the whole task of the
ritual worship is the representation and exercise of
the process of sanctification.
In the Mosaic ritual the acts of worship were
not merely signs of internal things, which would go
on in relative independence of the acts of worship,—
e. g. sacrifice does not s^ymbolize a devotion to God
taking place independently of the act of sacrifice ; it
is not merely a symbol, but it is just the devotion of
oneself to God which is carried out in the act of sacri-
fice. The sacrifice is itself an embodied prayer ; to it is
attached the attainment of divine pardon and bless-
ing. That the sacrificial side of worship is predomi-
nant in the Old Testament, and the sacramental in
the New, is due to the relation of Law to Gospel ; in
the latter, what God does for man stands first ; in
the former, man's acts.
THE PLACE OF THE WORD IN PUBLIC WORSHIP. 155
For the stage of infancy, the ritual ordinance has
the educational value of a process working from the
outside to the inside, and so awakening a God-fearing
disposition, a consciousness of inward communion
with God (Dent. 14: 22, 23).
[Analysis: 1) The fundamental idea of the theocracy is consecra-
tion to God; 2) the aim of the covenant is sanctification ; 3)
sacrifice is itself an embodied prayer; 4) distinction between the
sacrificial and the sacramental in worship ; 5) the educational
value of the Mosaic ritual.]
§ 113. The Place of the Word in Public Worship. The
Oath.
The proclamation of the divine Word does not ap-
pear as an essential part of the Old Testament wor-
ship ; and though the teaching of Jehovah's law and
statues is specified among the priest's duties (Deut.
33: 10), the reading of the law appears in connection
with worship only every seventh year, at the Feast
of Tabernacles (Deut. 31: 10, 11). But to the place of
worship was attached, without express teaching, the
knowledge of the God who show^s Himself there as a
present God (Ex. 29: 43-46); while with the acts of
worship was connected a lively transmission of the
know^ledge of the great deeds on which Israel rested
its faith (Ex. 12: 26, 27; etc.). Nevertheless, side by
side with the established forms of worship there pre-
vailed among the people a powerful spirit of prayer ;
and all the examples of prayer in the Pentateuch are
represented as praying men of strong faith.
The oath is regarded as a religious act (Deut. 6:
13) . Swearing is accordingly an act of religious pro-
fession (Jer. 4: 2), and is a distinct appeal to the
penal justice of Jehovah against him who knowingly
speaks falsehood (Josh. 22: 22, 23). The oath ap-
pears in private life from the most ancient times as a
156 I'HE MOSAIC PUBLIC WORSHIP.
promissory oath (Gen. 24: 2, 3); in particular, as an
oath of covenant (Gen. 21: 23-25). The law stiU
further acknowledges the assertory oath as an oath
of purgation before the court of justice (Ex. 22: 11).
The form in which an oath was taken was always that
the oath was sworn by Jehovah.
Perjury, as a profanation of Jehovah's name (Lev.
19: 12), as a vain use of it (Ex. 20: 7), is a heavy sin.
[Analysis: 1) Preaching not an essential part oi 0. T. worship:
2) the reading of the law took place every seventh year; 3) God
manifested Himself as a present God; 4) they were continually
reminded of their wonderful history; 5) prayer; 6) the oath was
a religious act; 7) its use in private life; 8) its form ; 9) perjury.]
CHAPTEE XYIII.
THE PLACE OF WORSHIP.
§ 114. The Requisites for a Place of Worship.
Since the persons charged with the conduct of the
Mosaic worship have already been treated of, we
have in particular only to treat of three other points:
1) of the seat of worship ; 2) of the acts of worship;
and 3) of the times of worship.
The simplest place of worship is the altar, which is
first mentioned in Gen. 8: 20; a height rising toward
heaven, signifying the ascent of the devotion em-
bodied in sacrifice. The first condition for a place of
worship is, that it has been chosen and sanctified by
God, and has actually been witnessed to as the place
of His revelation (Ex. 20: 24; Deut. 12: 5, 11).
The sanctuary is to be one only, that the people
may be kept together in theocratic unity. The ex-
clusive unity of the national sanctuary is impUed,
not only in Deuteronomy, but in what is said in the
book of Exodus concerning the tabernacle as Jeho-
vah's dweUing-place (Ex. 20: 24-26). The twelfth
chapter of Deuteronomy, however, indicates that
even during the wandering in the wilderness, the pro-
hibition of other places of worship was not fully car-
ried into effect.
[Analysis: 1) We must still discuss three points; 2) the first
condition for a place of worship; 3) there was to be only one
place; 4) this not always carried into eifect.]
158 THE MOSAIC PUBLIC WORSHIP.
§ 115. The Arrangement of the Mosaic Sanctuary.
The Mosaic sanctuary Avas a tent, generally called
the tent of meeting, /. e. of God with the people (Ex. 29:
42, 43). The other name for the sanctuary, tent
(tabernacle) of the testimony (Num. 1: 50, 53; etc.),
denotes the sanctuary as the place of revelation. In
Ex. 26: 1-37, we have the description of how the
tabernacle was built, in which we may notice 1) the
ten curtains (vv. 1--6); 2) the external coverings (vv.
7-14); 3) the wood work used {w. 15-30); 4) the
veil and hanging (i^i'. 31--37).
The whole tent, 30 cubits long, and 10 wide, was
divided into two rooms: in front, the Holy Place,
twenty cubits long ; and behind this the Most Holy
Place, ten cubits square, separated from the former
by a curtain woven with pictures of cherubim, called
the veil (separation) (Ex. 26: 31-33).
The utensils of the sanctuary were as follows : In
the court, in the open air before the sanctuary, stood
the altar for burnt-offerings (Ex. 27: 1-8). At the
four corners of the altar were heights, called horns, on
which a part of the blood was smeared at the sin-
offerings, and which were laid hold of by those who
sought refuge at the altar (1 Kings 1: 50). Between
the altar and the sanctuary was a copper washing-
basin, in which the priests washed their hands and
feet before going to the duties of the office (Ex. 30:
17-21).
In the sanctuar}^ itself, toward the north, stood the
table with the twelve loaves of shewbread (Ex. 25:
23-30). Opposite the table stood a golden candle-
stick mth seven lamps (Ex. 25: 31-40). In the
middle, before the curtain leading into the Most Holy
Place, was the altar of incense.
MEANING OF THE SANCTUARY. , 159
In the Most Holy Place stood the ark of the cove-
nant, the most sacred vessel of the sanctuary, con-
taining the tables of the law, and covered with a gold-
en plate called kapporeih (literally, an instrument of
atonement, English Version, mercy seat), the most im-
portant part of the ark of the Covenant (Lev. 16: 13
-16). Above the kapporeth stood two golden cheru-
bim, with outspread wings and faces turned toward
each other ; between them the shekhina of Jehovah
was supposed to be (Ex. 25: 22; Num. 7: 89). Besides
this a vessel with manna (Ex. 16: 33), Aaron's rod
that budded (Num. 17: 10), and lastly, by the side of
the ark of the covenant, the book of the law (Deut.
31: 26), were kept in the Most Holy Place.
[Analysis: 1) Two names given to the tabernacle; 2) descrip-
tion of the building of the tabernacle; 3) arrangement of rooms;
4) utensils in the court; 5) in the Holy Place; 6) in the Most
Holy Place.]
§ 116. Meaning of the Sanctuary. Its Three Rooms.
The tabernacle has three divisions. Into the first
division, the court, only the covenant people can go ;
into the second, only the priesthood ; into the third,
the high priest alone, and that only once a year. The
first division is under the open sky ; the second is
veiled, but still lighted ; the third is quite veiled and
dark.
In the sanctuary is embodied the idea of God's
dwelling among the people of Israel. Here the people
come to Jehovah in His dwelling-place. Into the first
division, the court, only the covenant people can go,
and not into the sanctuary itself, which is only al-
lowed to be entered by the priests (the mediators of
the people) . But even these priests are not in a posi-
tion (on account of their sinfulness) to estabhsh a full
160 THE MOSAIC PUBLIC WORSHIP.
communion with God. For this reason Jehovah's
dwelUng-place is divided into two apartments : the
veiled, holiest of all, in which Jehovah, the revealed,
and yet hidden and in a manner unapproachable God
is enthroned in the darkness; and the holy place
the place of the priests and their service, which on
this account is the symbol of the mediation of the
covenant.
The statement that the model of the tabernacle
and its vessels was shown to Moses on the Mount
(Ex. 25: 9, 40; Heb. 8: 5), does not in itself imply
that the sanctuary was to be a hteral cop3^ of a ce-
lestial original, but only that it served to give ex
pression to the ideas of revelation. There is, more-
over, a contrast between the two divine dwelling
places ; for in heaven God dwells in His majesty as
Ruler of the world,— in the earthly tabernacle He
dwells in His condescending grace.
[Analysis;!) The three divisions of the tabernacle; 2) the mean
ing of the sanctuary; 3) contrast between the earthly and the
heavenly tabernacle.]
§ 117. Meaning of the Sacred Vessels in the Court and in
the Sanctuary.
The meaning of the various sacred vessels corre-
sponds to the meaning of the three divisions of the
sanctuary. The only piece of sacred furniture with
reference to which an immediate activity of the people
takes place, the altar of burnt-offering, stands in the
court. The horns of the altar are 1) either symbols
of the divine power of salvation and help (so Keil)
or 2) in these horns the general meaning of the altar
(that worship ascends to God) culminates, ^o that thus
the blood of atonement sprinkled on them is, as it
were, brought a step nearer God (Oehler). The wash-
MEANING OF THE SACEED VESSELS. l6l
ing-basin marks the passing from the general offering
of sacrifice to the specific priestly service. He who
has to carry on the service of reconciliation for the
congregation must sanctify his own walk and actB
In the holy place stands ihe altar of wcense. The
incense-offering, presented here every morning a,nd
evening by the hand of the priest,was a symbol of the
prayers of the people (Ps. 141: 2; Rev. 5: 8; 8: 3).
Oehler thinks that by the table with the shewbread
is meant, that the people in its twelve tribes testifies
by the continual presentation of nourishing bread
in the sanctuary, that it owes to the blessing of its
God the maintenance of life, and that thereby Israel
dedicates to God the exercise of the calling by which
it wins its daily bread in the use of God's gifts This
interpretation is carried further by Hengstenberg
and others, who make the shewbread a symbol of
spiritual nourishment. The candlestick with its seven-
fold light points to the perfect Light which shmes m
this covenant community; and in particular, the
light does not refei- merely to the commumcation of
higher knowledge, but to saving divine g-race m
general. This meaning of the symbol is specially con-
firmed by the visions of Zechariah (4: 1-14).
In the symbols, then, of the Holy Place, the truth is
expressed, that the people presents itself before its
God in the light and life which it receives m virtue of
covenant communion with God.
refdTI)ortL'ifdSr'^3fgr;era. 'significance oi the sym-
bols in the Holy Place.]
162 THE MOSAIC PUBLIC WORSHIP.
§ 118. The Meaning of the Ark of the Covenant, with the
Kapporeth and the Tables of the Law.
In the Most Holy Place, the ark of the covenant is
the symbol and vehicle of the presence of the revela-
tion of Jehovah among His people. Hence it is called
the throne of God (Jer. 3: 16, 17); God's footstool
(1 Chron. 28: 2; Ps. 99: 5). But its meaning is more
nearly defined by the three parts— the kapporeth
(mercy seat) on the ark, the tables of the law in it,
and the cherubim over it.
1) The kapporeth is the most important part of
the ark of the covenant (Ex. 25: 22). In the fact
that it is the instrument of atonement, and that it is at
the kapporeth that the highest act of atonement is
executed, is expressed 1) that the God who dwells in
the midst of His people can only commune with them
in virtue of an atonement offered to Him, and 2) that
He is also a God who can be reconciled. This throne
of God is veiled in deep darkness (1 Kings 8: 12), and
the manifestation of God over the kapporeth takes
place in a cloud, which veils His glory (Lev. 16: 2).
On the day of atonement, the high-priest when he
approaches with the blood of atonement must en-
velop himself in a cloud of incense, when he raises
the curtain (Lev. 16: 13). This expresses the fact
that full communion between God and man is not to
be realized, even through the medium of the atone-
ment to be attained by the Old Testament sacrificial
institutions— that, as is said in Heb. 9: 8, as yet the
way to the (heavenly) sanctuary was not made mani-
fest.
2) The kapporeth rests on the ark, in which are the
tables of the law, the testimony. This means that
God sits enthroned in Israel on the oTound of the
THE CHERUBIM. 163
covenant of law which He has made with Israel. The
testimony is preserved in the ark as a treasure, a
jewel. And while the law is 1) a testimony to the will
of God toward the people, it is also 2) a testimony
against the sinful people,— a continual record of accu-
sation, so to speak, against their sins in the sight of
the Holy God. And now^ when the kapporeth is over
the tables, it is declared that God's grace, which pro-
vides an atonement or covering for the iniquity of the
people, stands above His penal justice.
[Analysis: 1) Tbe symbolic meaning of the ark of the covenant;
2) names given to it; 3) the three parts to be considered; 4)
meaning of Kapporeth; 5) the two ideas expressed by it; 6)
manner of God's manifestation; 7) mode of the high-priest's ap-
proach; 8) symbolic meaning of this; 9) of the fact that the
Kapporeth covers the ten commandments; 10) the two-fold testi-
mony of the law.]
§ 119. The Cherubim.
The cherubim are one of the most important sym-
bols of the Mosaic worship, occurring no less than
eighty-five times in the Old Testament. They no-
where appear developed into independent personality,
like the malakhim (angels); they are not sent out
like these, but are constantly confined to the mani-
festation of the Divine Being. In Ezekiel, where their
form is the most complicated (compare Rev. 4: 6-11),
they appear with a four-fold face, that of a man, a
lion, a bull, and an eagle,— with four wings, their whole
body covered with eyes (Ezek. 10: 10-15). In Ezek.
1: 5 they are called living creatures, as in Rev. 4: 6.
This description of Ezekiel's is not to be transferred
to the cherubim of the temple. The passages in the
Pentateuch lead, as Riehm and Keil rightly assert, to
nothing further than to winged human forms.
Our inquiry into the meaning of the cherubim must
start from the fact that they designate a place as the
abode of the habitation of God (Paradise, the taber-
164 THE MOSAIC PUBLIC WORSHIP.
Dacle, and later the temple), and are thus the bearers
of the manifestation of God when He manifests Him-
self to the world in His glory ; on which account they
are called God's chariot (1 Chron. 28: 18; Ps. 18:
10). Since they bar the entrance to Paradise (Gen.
3:24), and protect and shade the ark (Ex. 25: 20),
the first element in their function is to express to
man's consciousness the inaccessibility of the Divine
Being. They reflect the glory of the unapproachable
God in a form which is accessible for human eyes, but
at the same time so constructed that they could give
no support to the worship of images. By uniting in
itself the noblest earthly living creatures (man, the
eagle, the lion, the bull), the symbol is evidently
meant more particularly to set forth the divine glory
as it is manifested in the world. It is the cherubim
which at the same time proclaim and veil the presence
of God. The continual mobility of the living creat-
ures (Rev. 4: 8) signifies the never-resting quickness
of the divine operations ; this is probably symbolized
also by the wheels which are given to the cherubim in
Ezekiel (1: 16). The number four, connected with the
cherubim in the latter form of the symbol, is the sig-
nature of all-sidedness (towards the four quarters of
heaven). Thus Jehovah, when He is honored as the
One who is enthroned above the cherubim, is acknowl-
edged as the God who rules the world on all sides, in
power, Avisdom, and omniscience.
The philological explanation of the term is altogeth-
er uncertain.
[Analysis: 1) The cherubim are not personal beings ; 2) are not
sent out like angels; 3) in Ezekiel they have a complicated form;
4) this description not to be transferred to the cherubim of the
sanctuary; 5) method of getting at a true view; 6) they express
the inaccessibility of God; 7) they set forth the divine glory as
manifested in the world; 8) they both proclaim and veil the
presence of God; 9) significance of the mobility of the living creat-
ures; 10) why four-fold face.]
CHAPTER XIX.
THE ACTIONS OF MOSAIC WORSHIP.
§ 120. On the Idea of Offerings in General.
The action of worship falls under the general no-
tion of offerings. The essential nature of an offering
in general is the devotion of man expressed in an out-
ward act. The inward impulse which impels man to
praise, thank and suppKcate God finds expression,
indeed, in words of devotion; but this impulse is not
mlly satisfied till this word is, as it were, embodied in
a corresponding action, in which man deprives and
denies himself of something and thus by deeds testi-
fies the earnestness of his devotion to God.
An essential factor in the offering is a substitution ,
which can take place in a two-fold way,— 1) when the
person who brings the offering is represented by the
gift substituted in his place ; and 3) when something
is substituted for the object to be offered (Ex. 13: 13).
The idea of substitution is brought out more fully
when another life is offered in the place of the life of
the person who offers.
[Analysis: 1) The essential nature of an offering; 2) the inward
impulse and the outward embodiment; 3) the essential thing is
substitution; 4) which can take place in a two-fold way; 5) the
highest form of substitution.]
§ 121. Pre-Mosaic Sacrifice and the Mosaic Covenant
Sacrifice as the Basis of Mosaic Sacrificial Worship.
Sacrifice was not newly introduced by the Mosaic
law. Genesis not only speaks of sacrifice as observed
by the patriarchs, but, in Gen. 4, carries back the pre-
166 THE MOSAIC PUBLIC WORSHIP.
seiiting of offerings to the earliest stage of mankind.
As has been shown above (see § 20, 21), the pre-
Mosaic offerings had the signification of thank-offer-
ings and offerings of suppheation, though a propitia-
tory element is connected with the burnt-offering
(first mentioned Gen. 8: 20), lying in the "sweet sa-
vour" (literally, odor of satisfaction), through which
the sacrifice had an appeasing effect (Gen. 8: 21). Al-
though offerings for atonement, in the strict sense,
are not mentioned in the Old Testament before the
introduction of the Mosaic sacrificial law, still we
may say that in Gen. 8: 21 w^e have a first elementary
and sjmibolic expression of the necessity of an atone-
ment before God. It has been a long disputed ques-
tion, whether the origin of sacrifice is to be traced
back to a positive divine demand, or to human inven-
tion and caprice. Oehler holds that in this way of
putting the question, the alternative is not correctly
formulated— because man offers in virtue of his in-
alienable divine image, which makes it impossible for
him to abstain from seeking that communion with
God for which he was created, by such active self-
devotion as takes place in offerings.
Gen. 22 is important for the development of the
Old Testament idea of offering. In it is expressed 1 )
the divine sanction of sacrifice in general as the proof
of man's believing devotion to God; 2) the declara-
tion that such devotion is to be proved by readiness
to jDart with even the dearest possession out of obe-
dience to God ; 3) human sacrifice is banished out of
the region of the religion of revelation ; 4) the accept-
ance of an animal victim as the substitute of man is
ordained.
The foundation of the whole system of Mosaic offer-
ings is formed by the covenant-offering in Ex. 24^
BLOODY AND BLOODLESS OFFERINGS. 167
especially in virtue of the meaning which here for the
first time (apart from the institution of the Passover)
attaches to the blood of the sacrifice. The covenant
is to subsist on offerings, for the people are not to
approach their God with empty hands (Ex. 23: 15;
Deut. 16: 16, 17). In order, however, to make such
an approach possible to the sinful people, God insti-
tutes an ordinance of atonement, which runs through
all the acts of worship, and by the use which is from
this time forward made of the blood of the sacrifice
at the burnt- and thank-offerings, the idea is expressed
that man may never approach God without previous
atonement, — that this must be accomplished before
he can expect that his gift will be favorably received
by God.
In describing the regulations concerning offerings,
we treat 1) of the material of the offerings; 2) of the
ritual of sacrifice; and 3) of the various kinds of offer-
ings with reference to their purpose.
[Analysis: 1) Signification of Pre-Mosaic offerings; 2) the mean-
ing of Gen. 8: 20; 21; 3) the origin of sacrifice; 4) four lessons
drawn from Gen. 22; 5) the significance of the covenant-offering
in Ex. 24; 6) the significance of the blood; 7) method of discus-
sion.]
§ 122. Bloody and Bloodless Offerings.
According to their material, offerings are partly
bloody and partly bloodless. Bloody offerings are
exclusively animal-offerings. Human sacrifice was
excluded from the legitimate worship of God (Gen. 22:
11, 12; Ex. 13: 13; Deut. 12: 31).
Offerings of animals are most important, chiefly on
account of the significance attaching to the blood.
For the most part the food-offerings and the drink-
offerings which went along with them, were connected
with animal-offerings.
[Analysis: 1) Bloody sacrifices; 2) human sacrifice was exclu(Jed;
3) why animal-offerings so important.]
168 THE MOSAIC PUBLIC WORSHIP.
§123. The Material of Animal Offerings.
In reference to the materials of animal- offerings, it
is laid down as law :
1) That they mnst be taken from among the clean
animals (Lev. 27: 9, 11). The law^ for distinguishing
between clean and unclean animals is given in Lev.
11 and Dent. 14. On what ground does this distinc-
tion rest? It seems that the principle was laid down
that air flesh-eating animals w^ere necessarily to be
accounted unclean, because to partake of blood is an
abomination. So, too, the birds enumerated as un-
clean are partly birds of prey, and partly such as feed
on worms and the like. To these are added all ani
mals that had anything repulsive and hideous. For
the larger animals any other ground than that given
in Lev. 11: 4—6 could hardly have existed.
2) Of clean animals, those were tit for offering which
formed the proper stock of domesticated animals,—
cattle, sheep, and goats. Of fowl, turtle-doves and
young pigeons were offered. The animals of sacrifice
were to be without blemish, free from bodily imperfec-
tions (Lev. 22: 21-24). AVith respect to the age of
the animals offered, the laAV commanded that they
should at least be eight days old (Lev. 22: 27: Ex.
22: 29, 30). Animals, however, were also to be pre-
sented in the vigor of youth.
[Analysis: 1) The law for distinguishing between clean and un-
clean animals ; 2) the reason of this distinction; 3) animals fit
for offering; 4) to be without blemish ; 5) age.]
§ 124. The Ingredients of the Vegetable Offerings. Salt
in the Offerings.
The ingredients of the vegetable-offerings, and par-
ticularly of the Minhha, or food-offering, w^ere accord-
ing to Lev. 2, as follows: 1) Ears roasted by fire
MATERIAL OF OFFERINGS. 169
(Lev. 2: 14); 2) Flour (Lev. 2: 1) -to both of these
ohve oil and frankincense were added (Lev. 2: 1, 15,
16); 3) Unleavened loaves or cakes, prepared from
fine fiour, of three sorts (Lev. 2: 4-8). Thus the
food-offering was made of that which served as the
common nourishment of man, and at the same time
was produced by human toil. Nothing but wine was
used for the drink-offering which went with the food-
offering.
Two kinds of fermentation are forbidden, 1) with
leaven; and 2) with honey (Lev. 2: 11); probably be-
cause the process of fermentation was looked on as
akin to corruption.
Salt was essential to every meat-offering (Lev. 2:
13). In virtue of its power of seasoning and prevent-
ing putrefaction, salt is the symbol of cleansing and
purification as well as durability.
[Analysis: 1) Different kinds of vegetable offerings; 2) princi-
ples nnderlying these offerings; 3) fermentation forbidden; 4)
signification of the use of salt.]
§ 125. The Principle on which the Material of Offerings
was fixed.
The principal views are as follows :
1) A first view holds that these rules were fixed
with an eye to the people's property (Bahr). But this
view is far too extensive to explain the material of
offerings.
2) A second view holds that the determining prin-
ciple is that of nourishment. Offerings are frequently
called the bread of God (Lev. 21: 6; 22: 25; etc.), not
as of food offered for God's nourishment, but only of
a giving to God of the people's nourishment. The
people bring an offering to God of the food which
tbey hm% produced in the Toeatioii ordain©d for
170 THE MOSAIC PUBLIC WORSHIP.
them of God ; and thus they sanctify their calling,
and bring a testimony of the blessing which God has
given on the labor of their hands (Deut. 16: 17).
3) This last conception favors that point of view
w^hich Kurtz has asserted with good reason (which
only must not, as Kurtz formerly did, be taken as
the actual principle of choice),— the psychico-biotic
relation in which the offerer stands to the gift pre-
sented. The feature of self-denial essential to a real
offering is particularly prominent in these gifts, which
are taken from the best and most precious part of
man's produce,— for it is especially an act of self-
denial to give the first-fruits of the herd and of the
field, to which the heart is wont to cling particularly.
What is the meaning to be attached to the oil and
the incense which accompany the food-offering? No
doubt the offering of the incense is the symbol of
prayer ascending to God, and well-pleasing in His
sight (Ps. 141: 2), and the incense along with the
Minhha is to serve to imprint more definitely on the
offering the character of a vehicle of prayer. It is dis-
puted, however, whether the oil, like the incense and
the salt is simply a supplement to the Minhha (Kurtz),
— namely an unction indicating (because the oil is a
symbol of the communication of the Spirit) that only
such labor is well-pleasing to God as is consecrated
by the Divine Spirit, and that only those gifts should
be brought to Him which are produced by such toil,
—or, whether the oil in the offering is co-ordinate
with the grain and the wine, and thus an independent
constituent of the gift (Bahr).
[Analysis: 1) The first view as to the principle on which the
material of offering was fixed; 2) the second view; 3) Kurtz's
view; 4) the feature of self-denial made prominent; 5) the mean-
ing of the incense; 6) of the oil.]
THE RITUAL OF ANIMAL SACRIFICE. 171
§ 126. The Ritual of Animal Sacrifice.
The parts that make up the action of offering, and
first of animal sacrifice, are in general— 1) The pre-
sentation of the animal to be sacrificed before the
altar; 2) the laying on of hands; 3) Killing; 4)
SprinkKng of blood ; 5) Burning on the altar.
1) The consecration of the offerer, accomplished by
avoiding all Levitical defilement, and by washing,
preceded the sacrificial festival (1 Sam. 16: 5). After
this the offerer had in person to bring the animal se-
lected to the entrance of the tabernacle (Lev. 1: 3;
4: 4) where stood the altar of burnt sacrifice (Ex'
40: 6).
2) Then the offerer (if there was more than one,
one after another, Ex. 29: 10) laid, or more correctly
pressed firmly, his hand on the head of the sacrificial
animal (Lev. 1: 4; 3: 2; 4: 4, etc). The offerer, by the
laying on of his hand, appoints the animal to be for
him a medium and vehicle of atonement, thanks, or
suppHcation, according to the designation of the of-
fering with which at the time he now wishes to appear
before God.
3) The slaughtering of the beast of sacrifice follows
immediately on the laying on of hands, and, as the
law presupposes throughout, is executed at private
offerings by the offerer himself. At those sacrifices,
however, which formed the standing service at the
offerings for the cleansing of lepers (Lev. 14: 13, 25),
as well as the sacrifices offered for the whole nation
(2 Chron. 29: 22, 24), the slaughtering was the busi-
ness of the priests, who were probably assisted by the
Levites (2 Chron. 29: 34).
The place of slaughtering was on the north side of
the altar (Lev. 1: 11; etc.), probably because it was
172 THE MOSAIC PtJBLIC WORSHIP.
dark, and therefore cheerless. The law makes no
regulations for the manner of slaughtering; tradi-
tion, however, is all the more explicit on this account,
and makes it aim mainly at the speediest and most
complete way of obtaining the blood.
[Analysis: 1) Five points to be considered; 2) the consecration;
3) the laying on of hands; 4) the slaughtering; 5) the place of
slaughtering; 6) the manner.]
§ 127. The Use made of the Shed Blood.
4) The streaming blood of the slaughtered animal
was immediately caught in a basin by a priest, and
was stirred incessantly to prevent it from clotting.
The manipulation of the blood which followed differed
according to the various kinds of offering, that is,
according to the degree in which the element of atone-
ment was connected with the sacrifice. The lowest
grade (in the burnt-offerings. Lev. 1: 5, trespass-
offerings. Lev. 7: 2, and thank-offerings, Lev. 3: 13)
consisted in sprinkling, or rather swinging, the blood
around the altar. On the contrary, at the sin-offer-
ings higher grades of the manipulation of blood took
place, consisting in bringing the blood to specially
sanctified places, according to the dignity of the sin-
offering. In the first or lower grade of sin-offering,
part of the blood Avas put on the horns of the altar
of burnt-offering (Lev. 4: 30, 34); in the second, the
blood was brought into the holy place, and part of it
was sprinkled or spurted (Lev. 4: 6, 17) seven times
toward the inner veil and put on the horns of the
altar of incense. In both cases the remaining quan-
tity of blood was to be poured at the foot of the altar
of burnt-offerings. In the highest grade of sin-offer-
ing, the blood was brought into the Holy of Holies,
and the kapporeth (mercy-seat) was sprinkled with it
(Lev. 16: 14-16).
THE USE MADE OF THE SHED BLOOD. 173
The meaning of this use of the blood is given in
Lev. 17: 11, where the prohibition to use blood is
based on the following declaration: "For the life
(soul) of the flesh is in the blood : and I have given it
to you upon the altar to make atonement for your
souls : for it is the blood that maketh atonement by
reason of (in virtue of) the life (soul)." The passage
means, that in the still fresh blood of the sacrifice
whi'ch is put on the altar, the soul of the animal is
presented for the soul of man, to atone for, more
exactly, to cover, the latter. The Hebrew words
(Kipper, Kopher, Kippurim) used to express the idea of
atonement, denote expiation as a covering; the guilt
is to be covered — withdrawn, so to speak, from the
gaze of Him w^ho is to be reconciled by the atone-
ment, so that the guilty one can now approach Him
without danger (Ex. 30: 12; Num. 16: 46). In the
language of sacrifice, the priest, as the mediator be-
tween God and the people, is in general designated as
lie who covers, or expiates, or makes atonement (Lev. 10: 17;
15: 15, 30). That by which a trespass is to be covered
can only be something by which He against whom
man has offended is satisfied. Thus kopfier passes
over into the meaning of lutron, ransom, the payment
which buys a debtor free (Ex. 21: 30: Num. 35: 31).
Now in what sense is the soul of the animal- pre-
sented in the blood to serve in the sacrifice as a cover-
ing for the soul of man? Generally speaking, by
man's placing the soul of the pure, innocent sacrificial
animal between himself and God, because he is unable
to approach God immediately on account of his sin-
fulness and impurity. For the congregation of Israel
the approach to God is made possible by the fact
that God gives to it in the Mosaic ritual the means of
covering sin which is well-pleasing to Him, the Holy
174 THE MOSAIC PUBLIC WOESHIP.
One. God has put the soul of the clean and guiltless
animal, which is presented to Him in the blood of the
offering, in the place of the impure and sinful soul of
the offerer, and this pure soul, coming between the
offerer and the Holy God, lets Him see at His altar a
pure life, through which the impure life of the offerer
is covered ; and in the same way this pure element
serves to cover the pollutions clinging to the sanctu-
ary and to do awa}^ with them. This is the Old Tes-
tament type for the passage in Heb. 9: 14, ''Who
through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without
blemish unto God." The blood of sacrifice has thus
a quite specific meaning. It is that which alone
makes God's acceptance of all gifts possible, since in
it the self-sacrifice of the offerer is vicariously accom-
plished.
[Analysis: 1) The use of the blood in the lowest grade of offer-
ings; 2) in the first grade of sin-offering; 3) in the second grade; 4)
in the highest grade of sin-offering; 5) meaning of Lev. 17; 11; 6)
of the Hebrew words used: 7) in what sense is the soul of the
animal a covering for the soul of man? 8) the 0. T. type for Heb.
9: 14; 9) the self-sacrifice of the offerer is vicariously accom-
plished.]
§ 128. The Burning of the Offering.
5) When the manipulation of the blood was com-
pleted, the burning of the offering folloAved. In the
burnt-offering, all the fiesh and the fat pieces were
consumed after the parts had been washed which re-
quired cleansing (Lev. 1: 7-9); in the other offerings,
onl}^ the fat pieces. The burning of the offering com-
pletes the surrender of it on the part of the offerer,
and for him the gift is destroyed, but only in such a
way that at the same time the acceptance of the
gift on the part of God ensues— an odor, which
is well-pleasing to God. Being produced as the
smoke and vapor of the burnt-offering, the real
THE RITUAL OF THE FOOD-OFFERING. 175
essence of the offering rises upward, so that He is
thus made to enjoy the offering. This is what
is meant by the regularly recurring formula, "an
offering made by fire, of a sweet savour unto the
Lord" (Lev. 1: 9, 13, 17). But the fire which con-
sumes the offering is originally one coming from God,
because God thereby appropriates the offering (Lev.
9: 24). It must never go out on the altar, but must
be continually nourished by the burnt-offering and
the fat of the peace-offering, in order to preserve the
identity of the fire on the altar with the original
heavenly fire, and to represent at the same time the
unbroken course of the adoration of Jehovah carried
on in sacrifice. This heaven-born fire is the symbol
of the divine holiness which reveals itself in Israel.
That God accepts every offered gift only by means of
the element w^hich proceeds directly from Him is in-
tended to teach that every sacrifice which man makes
to God is made perfect only by being taken up into
the purifying, sanctifying element of divine life (com-
pare Mark 9: 49). The latter, indeed, becomes a con-
suming fire, for those who approach the Holy One in
a profane spirit (Lev. 10: 2; Isa. 33: 14).
[Analysis: 1) The burning of the burnt-offering; 2) its significance;
3) an odor well-pleasing to God; 4) the fire is one coming from
God; 5) must never go out; 6) symbolical meaning of fire; 7)
may become a consuming fire.]
§ 129. The Ritual of the Food-Offering.
At those food-offerings which accompanied the
burnt-offerings presented for the congregation, it is
probable (there is no certain command) that the whole
quantity of fiour, oil, and incense was burnt on the
altar. At the free-will food-offerings the offerer
brought the material to the priest, who took a hand-
ful of the flour and the oil, together with the whole of
176 THE MOSAIC PUBLIC WORSHIP.
the incense, and burned it on the altar (Lev. 2: 1-3).
The food-offerings accompanying peace-offerings will
be treated of along with these. The law makes no
provision concerning the manner of procedure in the
drink-offering.
[Analysis: 1) The ritual of food-offerings accompanying burnt-
offerings; 2) free-will food- offerings; 3) the drink-offering.]
§ 130. Various Kinds of Offerings with Reference to their
Purpose.
The law of offering distinguishes, with reference to
their design, four kinds of offerings,— burnt-, peace-,
sin-, and trespass-offerings.
By this grouping we are led to refer the four kinds
of offerings to two principal classes, those which as-
sume that the covenant relation is on the w^hole un-
disturbed (burnt- and peace-offerings), and those that
are meant to remove a disturbance and to restore
the right relation to God. The latter are offerings of
atonement, and comprehend both sin- and trespass-
offerings.
[Analysis: 1) Four kinds of offerings; 2) may be referred to two
classes.]
§ 131. The Burnt-Offering.
The ordinary name of the burnt-offering ('ola)
means ''that which rises upward to God in the fire"
(so Bahr, Keil, Delitzsch, and Dillmann). The anima]
sacrificed must in accordance with the high rank of
the offering, be a male without blemish, taken from
among the most perfect of the beasts of sacrifice
(cattle, sheep, or goats) (Lev. 1: 1-13). After the
skin had been taken off (which was the perquisite of
the priest. Lev. 7: 8), and the offal removed, the ani-
mal was wholly burnt on the altar, and the blood was
sprinkled round it.
THE PEACE-OFFERING. 177
In this offering, the people and the individual ex-
pressed in a general way their adoration of Jehovah
and their devotion to Him. In virtue of the presenta-
tion of blood connected with it, and as a fire-offering
of pleasant odor, it is also propitiatory (appeasing)
in general; it serves to make him who offers it accept-
able before Jehovah, — indeed in virtue of this accept-
ableness, it serves as a covering or atonement for the
offerer (Lev. 1: 4; 14: 20; 16: 24). This burnt-offer-
ing was the morning and evening sacrifice presented
daily in the name of the people (the embodiment of
morning and evening prayer), for which a yearling-
lamb was also used. This is called the continual
burnt-offering. The time for presenting the offering
was also the hour of prayer (Dan. 9: 21; Acts 3: 1),
as, generally speaking, it is likely that an act of
prayer was combined with the burnt-offering (com-
pare 2 Chron. 29: 27-30).
The Sabbath, the New Moon, and the feasts were
marked by an increased burnt-offering (Num. 8: 9,
11, etc.).
[Analysis: 1) The meaning of *ola; 2) the animal must be a
male without blemish: 3) wholly burnt; 4) the people expressed
thus their adoration and devotion; 5) it was also propitiatory;
6) the morning and evening prayer; 7) the continual burnt-offer-
ing; 8) offered at the hour oi prayer; 9) increased burnt-offerings
at the feasts.]
§ 132. The Peace-Offering. Its Name, Nature, and
Division.
The name of this sacrifice (shelamim) may be ex-
plained in a two-fold manner.
1) Some take it as derived from the Kal sha/em, to
be entire. This makes the name of the sacrifice declare
that the offerer is in a relation of integrity, a relation
of peace and friendship with God.
178 THE MOSAIC PUBLIC WORSHIP.
2) Others take it as derived from the Piel shillem, io
compensate. But if this derivation is adopted, we are
not to limit the shelamim (peace-offering) to the specif-
ic notion of the thank-offering, for peace-offerings are
offered not only for some benefit already obtained, but
also for one still desired; in short, as a testimony that
to God alone we are indebted for whatever we receive
or hope to receive.
We are to distinguish three kinds of peace-offerings:
1) the thank- or praise-offering (Lev. 7: 12-15); 2)
the vow (Lev. 7: 16); 3) the free-will offering (Lev.
7: 16).
The thank-offering was the highest among the peace-
offerings, referring to a favor not already supplicated
for, properly a grateful acknowledgment for Divine
favors as undeserved as they were unexpected. The
vow always refers to something distinctly prayed for.
The free-will offering is every free gift for which there
was no other occasion than the will of the offerer,
whom his heart impelled to show his thankful sense
of all the blessings which the goodness of God had be-
stowed on him.
[Analysis: 1) Meaning of Shelamim ; 2) three kinds of peace-oflfer-
ings; 3) the thank-offering ; 4) the vow; 5) the free-will offering.]
§ 133. The Ritual of Peace-Offering.
In the peace-offering the whole animal w^as not
placed upon the altar, but the fat alone was removed
at the cutting up of the animal and aiterward burnt
(Lev. 3: 3-5, 9-11, 14-16). This fat consisted, in the
case of oxen or goats, of four, in that of sheep, of
five parts. The reason for burning these fatty por-
tions on the altar was that they were regarded as the
choice parts of the animal. After the removal of the
fat, the offerer of the private peace-offering was to
THE RITUAL OF PEACE OFFERING. 179
bring with his own hand not only this, but also the
wave-breast and the right shoulder (therefore a fore-
leg) to the priest as a heave-offering (Lev. 7: 29-34).
The waving consisted in the priest's laying the mat-
ter to be waved upon the hands of the offerer, placing
his hands under those of the latter and moving them
in a horizontal direction— backward and forward, ac-
cording to the Talmud, and also toward the right
and left, that is, towards the four quarters of the
heavens, according to some later Rabbins. This wav-
ing took place almost exclusively in the case of such
portions of sacrifice as were allotted to the priests as
a gift from Jehovah. The smnging forward evidently
denoted the presentation of the gift to God, while the
moving it backward again indicated that God on His
part returned the gift, and assigned it to the priest.
The heaving was a special ceremonj^, a moving up-
ward and downward of portions of the sacrifice with
reference to the God who rules in heaven and on
earth. In some cases it Avas combined wiWi the wave-
offering, in others practised independently, and gener-
ally speaking, heaving and burning appear in combi-
nation.
After the separation of the wave-breast, the rest of
the fiesh was the portion of the offerers, to be used by
them as a sacrificial feast in the sanctuary, in which all
the members of their families and other guests might
participate. Levitical cleanness was indispensable in
all who ate of the sacrifices. In the case of the thank-
offering, the flesh was to be consumed on the same
day (Lev. 7: 15); in that of other sacrifices, on the
second day at the farthest ; if any remained till the
third day, it was to be burned (Lev. 7: 16-18).
The signification of this sacrificial feast was that God
condescended to be the guest of the offerer, receiving
180 THE MOSAIC PUBLIC WORSHIP.
the breast as His portion of honor, and then rehn-
quishing it to His servant the priest. Thus the repast
Avas a pledge of the blessed fellowship into which He
would enter with -His people among whom He dwelt.
It w^as also to be a love -f east, at which, besides the
members of the family, the Levites (Deut= 12: 18),
and (as prescribed, Deut. 16: 11, in the case of the
peace-offerings at Pentecost) the needy were to find
refreshment.
[Analysis: 1) The reason the fat alone was burned; 2) the heave-
offering: 3) the waving; 4) the heaving; 5) the sacrificial feast;
6 ) its significance.]
§ 134. Of Vows.
The idea of the yow^ extends much farther than
those vowed sacrifices properly so called. Three sorts
of vows are mentioned: 1) vows of devotion (Neder);
2) vow^s of destruction (Hherem); 3) vows of absti-
nence fEsar or 'Issar).
The positive vow of devotion first appears in the
Old Testament in the case of Jacob (Gen. 28: 20-22),
as a promise to erect a place of worship, and might
extend to persons, even the person of the vow^er, to
animals and to lands (the vow. of Hannah, 1 Sam, 1:
11). For the law of redeeming a vow^, see Lev. 27:
1-25.
Anything w^hich had fallen under the curse could
only be the subject of the Hherem. This w^ord signifies
"a being cut off," for to be subject to the Hherem is
to have forfeited existence. The Hherem might be car-
ried into execution either in consequence of a Divine
command or of a special kind of vow\ Nothing de-
voted could be redeemed (Lev. 27: 28, 29). Of course
this VOW' might not be arbitrarily vowed, but only
that which had incurred the judgment due to idolatry
couW be thus placed under the ban (as may be ia-
NAZARITISM. ' 181
ferred from Ex. 22: 19; Dent. 13: 16). Hence the vow
of extermination must be regarded as a manifesta-
tion of zeal for= Jehovah's honor.
Among vows of abstinence, the most usual was
that of fasting, which except on the Day of Atonement
(Lev. 16: 29; 23: 27), was quite voluntary, and there-
fore often appears as the expression of penitence
(compare 1 Sam. 7: 6; Joel. 2: 12; etc.), or of mourn-
ing in general. It is characteristic of the moral spirit
of Mosaism, that it strictly forbids all unnatural
austerities, such as maiming and mutilating the
limbs, branding, and the hke (Lev. 19: 28; Dent. 14:
1, 2; etc.).
A vow was never regarded as specially meritorious
(Deut. 23: 22). Of course, if a vow were once made,
its performance was strictly insisted on, with certain
exceptions (Num. 30: 3-8; Deut. 23: 21-23). Incon-
siderate vows are expressly reproved (Prov. 20: 25;
Eccl. 5: 4.-1).
[Analysis: 1) Three kinds of vows; 2) the vow of devotion; 8)
theHherem;4) the vow of abstinence; 5) vows were not special-
ly encouraged.]
§ 135. Nazaritism.
The most important vow was that of Nazaritism.
The name Nazar (to separate) denotes this vow as one
of abstinence. The Nazarite, however, is one who sep-
arates himself with a purpose of consecration to Jehovah.
The /aw of Nazaritism (Num. 6: 1-21) treats only of a
temporary and evidently a voluntary assumptioi.i of this
vow, and not of a yoeryoefwa/ Nazaritism like that of
Samson, Samuel, and John the Baptist (the only
Nazarites for life mentioned in the Scriptures) . Strict
obedience to three things was required : 1) total ab-
stinence from wine or strong drink, even from all
182 THE MOSAIC PUBLIC WORSHIP.
that proceeds from the vine, down to the kernels and
husks; 2) he Avas not allowed to cut his hair ; 3) all
contact with the dead was to be carefully avoided.
For the rest, he was not commanded to withdraw
from intercourse with his fellow-men, nor does the
law of theNazarite speak of an obligation to celibacy;
for which reason the Roman Catholic view, which sees
in Nazaritism' a type of monachism, is irrelevant.
The usual and at the same time shortest duration of this
vow amounted, according to later enactment, to
thirty ^d ays.
From Num. 6: 1-21 we learn that Nazaritism con-
templated a consecration of the whole being. The idea
of the priestly life, Avith its purity and remoteness from
everything affected by death or corruption, its self-
dedication to God, which sets aside even the nearest
earthly ties, is the fundamental idea of Nazaritism.
The hair of the Nazarite was a symbol of strength and
vitality and denoted that his person was God's posses-
sion, and his strength dedicated to His service, while
its growth formed a sacred ornament, like the diadem
by which the high priest Avas recognized as conse-
crated to God. Thus the command to let the hair
grow forms the positive side of the command to
avoid all contact Avith a dead body. In the case of
Samson, the hair was not merely the symbol but also
the vehicle of that abundance of strength by Avhich
he Avas fitted to become the deliverer of his felloAV-
countrymen.
[Analysis: 1) The vow o\ Nazaritism; 2) difference between
temporary and perpetual Nazaritism ; 3) strict obedience in ttiree
things was required; 4) Nazaritism is not a type of monachism;
5) its fundamental idea; 6) the hair a symbol of strength and vi-
tality.]
THE THEOCEATIC TAXES. 183
§ 136. The Theocratic Taxes.
The fundamental idea of the theocratic taxes was
that the people and all their possessions, especially
the Holy Land, belonged to the Lord. Four kinds
of such theocratic taxes may be mentioned :
1) The (male) first-born, both of man and beast be-
longed to the Lord, of which the former were to be
redeemed (Ex. 13: 11-13).
2) The first-fruits of all the produce of agriculture
(Ex. 23: 19; etc.).
3) As the first-fruits represent the blessings to be
received, the tenth was, properly speaking, the fee
which the Israelite was to render to Jehovah, as the
Lord of the soil, for the produce of the lando This
tenth of the fruits, whether of field or tree (Lev. 27:
30-33), was assigned to the Levites (Num. 18: 21-
25), as a compensation for their deprivation of an in-
heritance among the tribes. Of this tenth the Levites
were to pay a tenth to the priests (Num. 18: 26) »
4) The tax imposed for the service of the sanctuary,
which according to Ex. 30: 12, 13, was half a shekel,
was not a mere property-tax, but rather for personal
atonement, or more strictly, a covering. The money
thus raised was, according to Ex. 38: 25-27, applied
to the building of the sanctuary. But this tax can
not be considered as an annual one. In Neh. 10: 32,
33 we first meet mth a yearly contribution of a third
of a shekel for the service of the sanctuary, and that
without reference to the Mosaic enactment. In the
times of Christ the half shekel reappears as a general
Jewish temple-tax (Matt. 17: 24).
[Analysis: 1) The meaning of the theocratic tax: 2) four kinds
ol theocratic taxes; 3) the support of the Levites; 4) the support
of the priests ; 5) the temple- tax.]
184 THE MOSAIC PUBLIC WORSHIP.
§ 137. The Difference between the Trespass-Offering and
the Sin-Offering with respect to the End in View.
The third and fourth kinds of sacrifice, the sin-offer-
ing and the trespass-offering have the common end
of abolishing all interruption of the covenant rela-
tion caused by some transgression. This transgres-
sion is mainly designated as one committed in error,
i. e. in ignorance, unintentional (see with respect to
sin-offering. Lev. 4: 2, 13, 22, 27; etc.; trespass-
offering, Lev. 5: 15, 18). Still the expression "un-
wittingly or through error" includes more than mere
inadvertence and extends to errors of infirmity, of
rashness, we might say, of levity.
If we examine the three passages on the trespass -
offering in which its import most clearly appears (Lev.
5: 14-19; 6: 1-7; Num. 5: 5-10), we find that the
trespass-offering presupposes an act of defrauding,
which, though chiefl}- an infraction of a neighbor's
rights and in the matter of property, is, also, accord-
ing to the views of Mosaism, an infraction of God's
rigfits in respect to the law. Besides material repara-
tion, increased by a fifth of the value, the transgres-
sor had also to make satisfaction to God by means
of the trespass-offering.
Satisfaction being thus rendered in the trespass-
offering for an act of defrauding it served indeed at the
same time as a covering or atonement for him who
had committed the act of defrauding (Lev. 5: 18), so
that, covered by this satisfaction, he might approach
the Holy God. But to effect directly an atonement
for a sinner's soul and therefore the absolution from
sin of the sinner's person, was the office not of the
trespass but of the 5//? -offering. Delitzsch expresses it
in this wise : The fundamental idea of the sin-offering
THE RITUAL OF THE SIN-OFFERING. 185
IS expiation, that of the trespass-offering- satisfaction;
in the former, the evangelical feature is prominent, in
the latter, the disciplinary.
[Analysis: 1) The common aim of the sin-offering and the tres-
pass-offering; 2) the trespass-offering presupposes an act of de-
frauding; 3) satisfaction is made by trespass offering ; 4) abso-
lution was given through the sin-offering; 5) distinction drawn
by Delitzsch.]
§ 138. The Ritual of the Trespass-Offering.
There is a decided difference in the ritual between the
trespass and the sin-offering corresponding to their
different intentions. Onl}^ the male sheep, generally
the full grown ram, the very animal not included
among the sin-offering victims, was used for the tres-
pass-offering. Another distinction w^as, that the vic-
tims in the case of the /res/^ass-o^er^ were always
the same, and no substitute could be admitted, as in
the sin-offering, on account of the poverty of the
worshipper. This makes it clear that the chief object
of the trespass-offering was not an expiation for the
person as such, but a compensation for a strictly de-
fined injury.
The proceedings at the bringing of the trespass-
offering are laid down in Lev. 7: 1-7.
[Analysis: 1) Two main points of distinction between the tres-
pass and the sin offering; 2) the object of the trespass-offering;
3) explanation of Lev. 7: 1—7.]
§ 139. The Ritual of the Sin-Offering.
Peculiar to the sin-offering are :
1) The difference of the victims, according to the
theocratic position of him for whom they were sacri-
ficed. The victim was a young bullock in sin-offerings
of the highest grade (Lev. 16: 3; 4: 3; 4: 13; Ex. 29:
10, 14, 36); a kid of the goats for the people on the Day
186 THE MOSAIC PUBLIC WORSHIP.
of Atonement (Lev. 16: 5), and on the other yearly
festivals, and at the New Moon (Num. 28: 15, 22, 30;
etc.); a goat or a female lamb for an ordinary Israelite
(Lev. 4: 28, 32; 5: 6); turtledoves and young pigeons for
the very poor (Lev. 5; 7; 14: 22).
2) The 6/oo(/ was brought to more sacred places than
was the case in other sacrifices, and in the three fol-
lowing degrees, a) In sin-offerings of goats, kids, or
lambs, for individual Israelites fthe high priest ex-
cepted), some of the blood was smeared on the horns
of the altar, and the rest poured out at its base(LeA^
4: 25, 30, 34). b) In the sin-offerings of bullocks of-
fered for the congregation or for the high priest (on
other occasions than on the Day of Atonement), the
blood was sprinkled seven times toward the inner
veil, the horns of the altar of incense were smeared
therewith and the rest Avas poured at the base of the
altar of burnt-offering (Lev. 4: 5-7; 16-18). c) At
the greatest of the sin-offerings, that on the Day of
Atonement, the blood was taken into the Holy of
Holies (see § 140).
3) The consumption in sin-offerings of the lower
grade of the flesh of the sacrifice, which had come into
close contact with God, and was therefore designated
as most h.olj, by the priests in the fore-court of the
sanctuary (Lev. 6: 26, 29).
The explanation of the ritual of the sin-offering
must be connected with what has already been said
on the nature of sacrificial atonement. To substitute
for the impure soul of the sinner a pure soul, which,
being offered to God, may cover the offerer, is the
meaning of a bloody offering, and consequently the
direct intention of the sin-offering (see § 127).
The significance of the several elements of the sm-
offering is as follows : 1) The hying on of the hand, with
1
THE RITUAL OP THE SIN-OFFERING. ]87
Which was probably connected the confession of sin
IS meant to express the intention of the offerer to sac-
rifice the life of the animal as a covering for his'm
pure soul 2) The sacrifice itself follows in the blood
obtained by the slaughter, and then immediately ap-
phed to the holy place where God is present. This
6rwg,„gnear of fhe blood to God advances the sin-offer-
ings of the higher grade, till it reaches its climax in
the great annual Atonement, the blood of which at-
thcHS' ITf ^PP'"°^*' by being brought into
the Ho^y of Holies. 3) The offering of the blood is
followed by the burning of the fatty portions, iov God
commands that the fat also of the pure victim, whose
blood He has accepted as a covering for the soul of
the sinner should be conveyed to Him by means of
fire, and this gives it the significance of a propitia-
tory offering, the acceptance of which serves as a
sanction to the preceding act of atonement. Only
the fat, however, and not the whole animal, was pre-
sented o. the altar, to give prominence to the idea
that m this sacrifice the offering of a gift holds a
secondary position in the act of expiation. 4) The
eating of the flesh by the priests (in the case of siu-
offermgs of the lower grade, as well as of peace-offer-
mgs) mvolves, like the burning of the fat, an accept-
ance on the part of God, which serves to declare and
confirm the fact that the sacrifice has actually at-
tained its end of making an atonement.
ent*vic«msnVioI^^»*ff°*^',P'5^^^ *•=« sin-offering;; 2) differ-
consumDtion n1 tL fl f^'fA ^' "'" "«" °* *« ^^ed blood 4) the
XnW? fiTrtp ^tf'-'' °f«if sacrifice; 5) the intention of the sin-
1 88 THE MOSAIC PUBLIC WORSHIP
§ 140. The Ritual of the Day of Atonement.
The supreme act of expiation was that which took
place on the tenth day of the seventh month (Tisri),
the annual Day uf Atonement. To it refer the laws in
Lev. 16, and in Num. 29: 7-11. On this day an
atonement was effected, not merely for the people and
the priesthood, but in connection theremth for the
sanctuary also (Lev. 16: 16). This atonement relat-
ed moreover to all the sins of the people, — and there-
fore to those also which had been already expiated
by other acts, on the assumption that the atonement
in the fore-court was insufficient.
With respect to the nature of the sins, the above
passages seem to set no limit to the atonement, and
the expiation of the Day of Atonement had reference
to ever}^ kind of sin, and availed for the congregation
as a whole (Lev. 16: 33).
The act of atonement to be effected is divided into
two acts: 1) the atonement for the high priest and his
house, and 2) for the congregation. The atonement
for the high priest must take place first, because the
mediator capable of effecting an atonement for the
people of God must first be prepared.
The ritual of the day is given in Lev. 16. The High
Priest wore the white linen garments on the day he
entered the Holy of Holies, the seat of the divine
Shekhina, for the same reason that they are attribut-
ed to the highest spirits who stand before the throne
of God in heaven (Ezek. 10: 2; Dan. 10: 5; etc.), to
symbolize the highest degree of purity.
Of the two kids which Avere the sin-offering for the
congregation it is said : And the high priest "shall
cast lots upon the tAvo goats ; one lot for the Lord,
and the other lot for Azazel" (Lev. 16: 8). With re-
THE RITUAL OF THE BAY OF ATONEMENT. 189
gard to this word Azazel, we are not to regard it as a
designation of the goat, but rather as the name of the
evil spirit whose abode is in the wilderness, and who is
thus designated as the one who is sent away. The
word itself may be taken as an abstract name in the
sense of "dismissal." We are scarcely justified, how-
ever, in regarding Azazel as Hengstenberg does, as
simply equivalent to Satan, because the latter does
not appear by name in the Pentateuch ; still the idea,
of Azazel is at all events aliin to the idea of Satan.
The ascending cloud of incense (Lev. 16: 13), sym-
bolical of pra^^er ascending to God, was to interpose
as a protection between the high priest and the pres-
ence, albeit concealed, of God.
By his entrance into the Holy of Holies with the
blood of the bullock (Lev. 16: 14), the High Priest
made atonement for himself, and was thus prepared
for making it for the congregation. The first and
single sprinkling must be referred to the personal
purification of the High Priest and the priesthood
(so also Kurtz and Keil), the second and seven-fold
to the purification of the sanctuary, which had been
polluted by the sinful atmosphere of the priests.
The High Priest now returned to the court, slew the
goat destined for the Lord, brought its blood also
into the Holy of Holies, and performed the same
sprinklings as before. This concluded the acts of
atonement made in the Holy of Holies.
Next followed the atonement made in the Holy Place
(Lev. 16: 16), no doubt corresponding with the
process within the Holy of Holies (compare Ex. 30:
10).
Lastly followed the atonement for the altar of burnt-
offering (Lev. 16: 18).
The atonement for the priesthood, the sanctuary,
190 THE MOSAIC PUBLIC WORSHIP.
and the congregation, according to its three diri-
sions, being thus completed, the other goat (Lev. 16:
20 compared with verse 10) on which the lot for
Azazel fell, was brought before the altar of burnt-
offering, and presented alive before the Lord, ''to
make atonement for (over) him" (Lev. 16: 10), which
controverted words are probably explained ' 'to cover
him" (the goat), viz. bv the application of the blood
of the slaughtered goat. The proceedings at the
purification of the recovered /eper (Lev. 14: 6), and of
the infected house (Lev. 14: 51) elucidate this point.
Here two birds were taken ; the one was killed and
the other, after being dipped in the blood of the first,
was let loose into the open field. So, in the case under
consideration, b}^ the application of the blood of the
first goat to the second, it was declared, that only in
virtue of the atonement effected by the blood of the
first goat are the people in condition to send away
their sins as forgiven to Azazel. The act of sending
away the goat is described in Lev. 16: 21, 22. Thus
were the sins upon the goat to be, as it were, ban-
ished to a place removed from all contact with the
people.
For a description of what took place after the goat
was sent into the wilderness, see Lev. 16: 23-28.
[Analysis: 1) The day of atonement; 2) this atonement referred
to all the sins of the people; 3) the act of atonement is divided
iato two acts; 4) the reason the atonement for the high priest
must take place first; 5) the reason the higii priest wore white
linen garments; 6) the meaning of Azazel; 7) the incense; 8) the
two-fold sprinkling with the blood of the bullock; 9) the sprink-
ling with the blood of the goat; 10) the atonement of the Holy
Place; 11) of the altar of burnt-offering; 12) the ritual in connec-
tion with the sending forth of the other goat; 13) an account of
Lev. 16; 23-28.]
SIGNIFICATION OF THE DAY OF ATONEMENT. 191
§ 141. Signification of the Ritual of the Day of Atonement.
The greatest prominence must be given in this
ritual to that element in the ritual by which an atone-
ment for sin is effected, and to that portion of the
sacrificial transaction which specially subserves this
end.
Wherein lies the efficacy of the expiation made on
the Day of Atonement by means of the blood of the
victim ? In the fact that on this occasion the blood
was brought as near to God as possible, before His
throne, and indeed within the veil, into that central
seat of His abode at otlier times unapproachable,
thus making satisfaction for the people in the very
place w^here the accusing law mthin the ark testified
against them. The people, knowing themselves to be
accepted ^^dth favor through the atoning blood, were
assured of the continued dwelling of God in their
midst and therewith of the continuance of their state
of grace.
By the laying on of hands, according to Lev. 1: 4, is
denoted the consecration of the animal to be the
medium of atonement for the sins of the person sac-
rificing. There was a substitutionary transference
(as shown by the analogy of Num. 8: 10, 11) of the
obligation to do or suffer in his stead, that which
God demanded from the offerer on account of his sin;
and through this transference the blood of the animal,
in which is its soul, became the medium of expiation
for the soul of the person sacrificing.
The slaughtering could only express the completion
of the act, or the endurance of the punishment, in or-
der that the animal, or rather its blood, in which
was its soul, mi^ht thereby become fitted to be a me-
dium of expiation.
1 92 THE MOSAIC PUBLIC WORSHIP.
Although Oehler concedes that the idea of vicarious
punishment (poena vicaria) is not foreign to the ritual
of the Old Testament, he nevertheless denies that the
animal sacrificed vicariously suffers the penalty of death.
On this much controverted x)oint the writer entirely
differs from Oehler. With Kurtz, Hengstenberg, Klie-
foth, Wangemann, Thomasius, and Philippi, we ac-
cept the juridical interpretation of the Old Testament
sacrifice in which the slaughtering is regarded as a
vicarious punishment endured by the sacrifical animal
m the place of the person offering it. According to
this view the imposition of hands may be defined as the
consecration to a vicarious, penal death ; the slaughtering,
as the completion of this penal death, by which the
blood of the animal was fitted to become the medium
of expiation ; and the sprinkling of the blood, the com-
pletion of the expiation itself. Delitzsch, who does
not fully accept the so-called juridical view, so ably
presented by Kurtz, nevertheless says that it is ''not
only the most simple and intelligible, but also the
idea which harmonizes best with the New Testament
antitype."
The meaning of the confession of sin made over the
second goat (Lev. 16: 21) can only be that of a decla-
ration, that past sins being forgiven, are now done
away with, — are dismissed and relegated to the evil
spirit, whose realm is situated beyond all connection
with the abode of the holy people. It is also an error
to see in the second goat an offering to Azazel.
Mosaism acknowledges no evil power, independent of
God, whose favor must be in some way secured. The
point is not to propitiate, but to get rid of Azazel,—
to declare to him that the nation, now that it has ob-
tained forgiveness of sin, has nothing to do with him,
the patron of evil.
THE LEVITICAL PURIFICATIONS. 193
As the day of atonement formed the chmax of what
the Mosaic ritual was able to effect with respect both
to extent and degree of atonement, it closes the en-
actments concerning expiation, and may from this
point of Yiew be denominated its Supreme Solemnity.
Without the Day of Atonement there would be an
actual gap in the theocratic ordinances. The law,
which was continually exposing .the opposition in
which the chosen people stood to the holy God
through their sinfulness, could not be ^dthout an in-
stitution to show the way in which this opposition
might be reconciled by an atonement for the congre-
gation, and also relatively to secure such reconciha-
tion ; w^hile at the same time, being weak through the
flesh, it pointed beyond itself to that perfect atone-
ment whose result will be the restoration of a truly
sanctified people (Zech. 3: 8-10; Heb. 9: 6-8). ^
[Analysis: 1) The efficacy of the expiation lies in the fact that
the blood was brought as near to God as possible; 2) the mean-
ing of the laying on of hands; 3) of the slaughtering; 4) the
animal sacrificed vicariously suffers the penalty of death; 5) the
juridical interpretation the true one; 6) the meaning of the confes-
sion of vsin; 7) the second goat not an offering to Azazel; 8) the
day of atonement, formed the climax of the Mosaic ritual ; 9 ) the
deep necessity of the institution of the day of atonement; 10) the
fact that there is no further reference in the 0. T. to this institu-
tion does not invalidate the antiquity of this festival.]
§ 142. The Levitical Purifications.
The Israelite, as pertaining to the holy people, was
to be clean; and therefore when he had, though un-
avoidably, incurred uncleanness, or come in contact
with anj^thing unclean, and so become unclean, he was
1 When the silence of the books of the Old Testament is ad-
duced as an objection to the antiquity of this festival, the doubt-
ful nature of such an argument is evident from the fact, that we
must then, to be consistent, postpone its origin till the third cen-
tury before Christ ; for the first intimation of this festival, apart
from the probable allusion to it in Zech. 3: 9, is found in the book
of the Son of Sirach (Ecclus. 50: 5), and in 3 Mace. 1: 11.
194 THE MOSAIC PUBLIC WORSHIP.
to restore his state of cleanness by a special act. The
chief means of purification was running water, which
is itself a symbol of life, and therefore called living
water (Lev. 14: 5, 50; etc.). In uncleanness of the
lower degree, the washing of the unclean person or
thing and separation till sunset were sufficient (Lev.
11: 24, 25; etc.). Li uncleanness of the higher degree,
the separation lasted seven, or in some cases fourteen
days (Lev. 14). In cases of uncleanness incurred
through contact with a dead body, a certain water of
sprinkling was applied, which is itself designated as a
sin-offering (Num. 19: 9, 17). The manner of its pre-
paration is given in Num. 19. Red was the color
symbolizing life and vital energy; scarlet the color of
splendor; the animal is a female, the sex that brings
forth, properly representing life. Cedar as the most
durable of woods symbolizing incorruption ; while
great purifying power was in ancient times always
ascribed to hyssop (Lev. 19: 6). Thus the water of
purification was an infusion, streng-thened by ele-
ments W'hich symbolized vital energy, incorruption,
and purity.
[Analysis: 1) For an unclean Israelite the chief means of purifi-
cation was living water ; 2) uncleanness of the lower and of the
higher degree; 3) when water of sprinkling was used; 4) the ex-
planation of Num. 19.]
§ 143. Acts of Purification for Removing the Suspicion
of Guilt.
Of an entirely different character were those acts of
purification Avhich related to the denial of suspected
crimes, viz : adultery and murder.
First was the jealousy -offering, and the drinking of the
water of cursing, tresbted of in Num. 5: 11-31. The water
in this case acquired, through the Word and power
of God, a supernatural power, which, though not to
'ACTS OF PURIFICATION. 195
be conceived of as magical, reall}^ produced, through
its influence on the mind, pernicious effects upon the
bod}^ of the guilty, but was harmless to the innocent.
Secondly, we have the purification of a community
from the suspicion of blood-guiltiness when a slain
man was found in the neighborhood, and the mur-
derer could not be discovered (Dent. 21: 1—9). The
blood shed was to be removed from the midst of the
people, and this Avas effected hy the sA^mbolical inflic-
tion of capital punishment upon the heifer, — a case of
vicarious punishment, — and thus satisfaction was made
to Divine justice.
[Analysis: 1) The jealousy-oflFering; 2) the drinking of the water
of cursing; 3) the ritual is given in Num. 5: 11—31; 4) the puri-
fication of a community when the person committing murder
could not be found; 5) the ritual is given in Deut. 21: 1—9; 6)
an example of vicarious punishment.]
CHAPTEE XX.
THE SACRED SEASONS.
§ 144. The Survey of the Sacred Seasons.
The sanctification of the course of time in general
was effected by the morning and evening sacrifice
(see § 131). Besides this, however, certain sacred
seasons were appointed: 1) The seventh day of the
week, or Sabbath; 2) The new moons, of which the
seventh was invested with a festal character, and
bore the name of the Day of Trumpets; 3) The three
festival pilgrimages, when the whole congregation as-
sembled at the sanctuary, viz: a) The Passover, v^ith.
which the annual cycle of festivals commenced in
spring, celebrated on the evening of the 14th of the
month Abib or Nisan, the first month of the Mosaic
year (Ex. 12: 2); b) The Feast of Weeks (Pentecost),
seven weeks later; c) The Feast of the Tabernacles,
from the 15th day of the. seventh month (Tisri) on-
Avard; 4) The seventh month Tisri, besides being dis-
tinguished by the festal character of its new moon,
included also the Day of Atonement; 5) Every seventh
year was also sacred as the Sabbatical year, and every
seventh sabbatical 3^ear as the Year of Jubilee. The
laws concerning sacred seasons in general are con-
tained in Ex. 23: 10-17; Lev. 23 and 25, Num. 28
and 29, and Deut. 16.
[Analysis: 1) The daily sacrifices ; 2) the sacred seasons ; 3) the
Sabbath; 4) the new moons; 5) the three festival pilgrimages;
6) the day of atonement ; 7) the Sabbatical year; 8) the year of
.Jubilee; 9) where the laws concerning sacred seasons are re-
corded.]
THE CELEBRATION OF THE HOLY DAYS. 197
§145. Reasons which Determine the Times of the Feasts.
The number seven, which from Gen. 2: 2, 3 onward
is the sign of Divine perfection, forms the f undamen^
tal type for the regulation of the sacred seasons.^ It
directly determines the order of the sabbatical seasons,
and also exerts an influence upon the order of feasts.
But what made these feasts, feasts, and the Sabbaths,
holy days, was not human choice, guided by the or-
der of nature, but the enactments of the covenant
God who on the one hand preserved by these festivals
a lively remembrance of the great facts of His deliver-
ance and guidance of His people (Ex. 13: 9; Lev. 23:
42, 43; etc.), and on the other admonished the people
to follow their earthly vocation in an agricultural
life, in constant dependence on the Giver of all the
blessings of nature, and to regard these blessings as
inalienably connected with the ordinances of the cove-
nant.
[Analysis: 1) Significance of the number seven; 2) why these
feasts were appointed ; 3) the day of atonement.]
§ 146. The Celebration of the Holy Days.
On the celebration of the holy days, the following
general remarks may be made :
1) Besides the sacriflces prescribed for every day,
certain special public sacrifices, differing in character
according to the several festivals also took place.
The laws respecting these are found in Num. 28
and 29.
2) On the seven annual feast days^ rest from labor
was commanded as well as on the weekly Sabbath.
1 No hint is given in the law why the Day of Atonement was to
take place on the tenth day of the seventh month. Baehr and
Kurtz suggest that the Day of Atonement is by the number ten
designated as the most comprehensive and perfect of days.
2 The first and seventh days of unleavened bread, the day of
the Feast oi weeks, the new moon Sabbath, the Day of Atone-,
ment, and the first and last days of the Feast of Tabernacles,
198 THE MOSAIC PUBLIC WORSHIP.
3) The positive element in the celebration of the
week/y Sabbaths and the sabbatical feast-days, is con-
tained in the regularly recurring formula ''holy con-
vocation" of Lev. 23 and Num. 28. This expression
signifies that the people were to come to the sanctu-
ary to worship (Ezek. 46: 3, 9). A universal command,
however, to appear in the sanctuary only took place
with regard to the three festal pilgrimages, and then
was given only to the male population (Ex. 23: 14,
17; Deut. 16: 16).
4) They who came to the feast were not to appear
before the Lord empty (Deut. 16: 16, 17).
[Analysis: 1) The laws for special public sacrifices; 2) the seven
annual feast days; 3) the celebration of the weekly Sabbath; 4)
the people were to bring iree-will offerings.]
§ 147. Antiquity and Origin of the Sabbath. ^
We must draw a distinction between the origin and
antiquity of the Sabbath and the legal observance of
it as a Mosaic institution. The blessing of this day
and the hallowing of it is connected with creation
(Gen. 2: 3). In the period before the deluge we have
traces of the hebdomadal division of time (Gen. 4:
3; 8: 10, 12). We also find references to the weekly
cycle in patriarchal times (Gen. 29: 27, 28). The week
of seven days, and along with it the presumption that
the sabbath was observed, is very ancient, and was
kno^^^l to the Babylonians, even before Abraham's
time. This division of days into weeks is best ex-
plained by the original institution of the Sabbath in
Paradise, and the weekly rest is universal, perma-
nent, and independent of the Mosaic law. The obli-
gation to set apart one day in seven for the service
of God is a part of the original law of nature.
1 Oehler maintains that the Sabbath is of purely Mosaic origin,
THE IDEA OF THE SABBATH. 109
This command was repeated in the Decalogue and
in the Mosaic law, with specific ceremonial character-
istics adapting it to the Jewish nation.
The first injunction concerning the Sabbath ap-
pears in Ex. 16: 5, 22-30, on the occasion of the
gathering of the manna, and in a form which seems
to indicate that the Sabbath was then known to the
people. The expression used in Ex. 20: 8, ''Remember,"
is, however, not intended to recall the Sabbath to the
mind as an ancient institution, but requires the peo-
ple to be from that time onward mindful of the
Sabbath-day (in Deut. 5: 12 the word observe occurs).
Neh. 9: 14 also testifies to the Mosaic origin of the
ceremonial Sabbath. The Mosaic Sabbath is, more-
over, peculiar in its independence of the changes of
the moon, and in its significance, as an institution
consecrated to Jehovah, and resting upon the cove-
nant relation of Israel to Jehovah.
[Analysis: 1) The Sabbath was instituted in Paradise; 2) we
have traces of the week in the antediluvian age; 3) also in the
time of the patriarchs; 4) the week was also known to the early
Babylonians; 5) the obligation to keep one day out of seven holy
is a universallaw ; 6) the Mosaic law covering the Sabbath is
ceremonial.]
§148. The Idea of the Sabbath.
In conformity with what has already been ad-
vanced, the meaning of the Sabbath is to be known
from the Old Testament alone. The chief passages
relating to it are Gen. 2: 3; Ex. 20: 8-11; 31: 12-17.
We learn : 1) That man, like God, is to work and to
rest ; this human life is to be a copy of Divine life : 2)
As Divine labor terminates in happy rest, so, too,
human labor is not to run on in resultless circles,
but to terminate in a happy harmony of existence.
The idea of the Sabbath, however, extends further.
200 THE MOSAIC PUBLIC AVOKSHIP.
The whole course of human history is not to run on
in dreary endlessness, but its events are to have a
positivetermination,— aretofind a completion inhar-
monious and God-given order. The Divine rest of the
seventh day of creation, which has no evening, hovers
over the world's progress, that it may at last absorb
it into itself. It is upon the very fact that the rest of
God is also to be a rest for man, and that God has de-
clared this by the institution of the Sabbath, that
the Apostle in Heb. 4 founds a proof for the proposi-
tion, "there remaineth therefore a Sabbath rest for
the people of God" (Heb. 4: 9).
The full purport, however, of the idea of the Sab-
bath is not attained until the dominion of sin and
death, which has entered into the development of
mankind, is taken into account.
[Analysis: 1) The chief passages relating to the Sabbath ; 2) the
two great lessons taught by the Sabbath; 3) the final rest for
the people of God.]
§ 149. The Celebration of the Sabbath.
The Sabbath is, therefore, a Divine institution, or,
to speak more correctly, a gift of Divine grace, for
the sanctification of the people (Ezek. 20: 12). In
other words, the Sabbath is first of all of a sacramen-
tal nature. To the divine gift, the conduct or devo-
tion of the people which God requires must corre-
spond, and thus a sacrificial is added to the sacra-
mental element. In the Old Testament, the Sabbath,
so far from presenting any painful aspect of renuncia-
tion, is regarded as a delight (Isa. 58: 13), a day of
joy (compare the song for the Sabbath, Ps. 92).
It is in this sense we must regard the enactments
with respect to the celebration of the Sabbath. The
first point is the resting from labor, to which belongs
not merel}^ the intermission of servile work, but also
THE ^EW MOON SABBATH 201
the prohibition to kindle fires in their dwellings for
the preparation of food (Ex. 16: 23; 35: 3). Capital
punishment (Ex. 31: 14; 35: 2) by stoning (Num. 15:
35) was attached to the transgression of the enact-
ments, as it was to that of all the fundamental laws
of the theocracy. The positive celebration of the Sab-
bath arose from its appointment for worship. As it
was possible for only a small portion of the people to
visit the central sanctuary, meetings for hearing and
meditating on the Divine Word may have taken place
in very early times, but the first trace of such as-
semblies is found in 2 Kings 4: 23. Greater prom-
inence is unmistakably given in the law to the nega-
tive than to the positive side of the Sabbath sanctifi-
cation.
[Analysis: 1) The Sabbath is a gift of divine grace; 2) has a
sacramental as well as a sacrificial element; 3) is a day of joy; 4)
the negative aspect of the celebration of the Sabbath; 5) the
positive celebration; 6) the laws concerning the Sabbath.]
§ 150. The New Moon Sabbath.
On the approach of the new moon, the Sanhedrim
assembled at Jerusalem to receive from him who had
seen ihe first appearance of the moon's sick/e,the informa-
tion Avhich was then transmitted by signals through-
out the country. The ordinary new moons were only
subordinate festivals (Num. 28: 11-15), but the
seventii new moon, that of the month Tisri in the
autumn, on the contrary, was a Sabbatical da3^ Its
proper name, the day of trumpet-sounding, seems to
indicate that the use of trumpets in public worship
took place with special solemnity on this day. Ac-
cording to Num. 10: 9, 10 this sounding of the
trumpet reminded the people that God was thinking
of them.
[Analysis: 1) The ordinary new moons; 2) the seventh new
moon ; 3) significance of the sounding of the trumpet.]
202 THE MOSAIC PUBLIC WORSHIP.
§ 151. The Sabbatical Year and the Year of Jubilee.
Four laws are giveu relating to the Sabbatical
year :
1) The general command in Ex. 23: 10, 11. Care
for the poor is the point of view under which the Sab-
batical year is here chiefl,y regarded.
2) The more detailed law in Lev. 25: 1-7, which
more precisely designates this ordinance as a rest of
the land unto Jehovah. The point of view here taken
is that the produce of the sabbatic year is to be the
common property for man and beast.
3) An essentially new enactment is contained in the
third law (Dent. 15: 1-11). The question here, again,
is the special import of the sabbatical year to the
poor. For in the seventh yesiv every creditor was to
release the loan he had lent to his neighbor.
4) The fourth law respecting the sabbath year
(Deut. 31: 10-13) enjoins that at the Feast of Taber-
nacles in the year of release, the law shall be read in
the public assembly of the people in the sanctuary. In
this a significant hint is given as to hoAv the seventh
year just entered upon ought to be hallowed.
Seven such sabbatic years terminated with the year
of Jubilee. The passage Lev. 25: 8—10, is most
naturally understood as declaring that the 3^ear of
Jubilee is to follow the seventh sabbatical year.
With regard to the celebration of the year of Ju-
bilee, we notice first the feature it had in common
with the sabbatical year, as a cessation from agri-
cultural labor (Lev. 25: 11, 12). The feature peculiar
to the 3^ear of Jubilee was the ''proclaiming of Kberty
throughout the land" (Lev. 25: 10). In this year of
libert}^ there took place, as it were, a new birth of the
state, at which all such civil impediments as were op-
THE SABBATICAL YEAR AND THE YEAR OF JUBILEE. 203
posed to the theocratic principles were abohshed.
One of these was the bondage of Israehtish citizens
(Lev. 25: 39-42). At this time also the restoration
of hereditary estates took place (Lev. 25: 23-28).
[Analysis: 1) The four laws repecting the Sabbatical year; 2)
the year of Jubilee; 3) the celebration of the year of Jubilee,]
§ 152. Import and Practicability of the Institution of the
Sabbatical Year and the Year of Jubilee.
Much has been said at different times, of the agri-
cultural and political advantages of this institution.
But of all this the law says not a word; it simply
refers to the Divine blessing with which obedience was
to be rewarded (Lev. 25: 21, 22). It is upon the
thought that man, acknowledging in act God's high-
er right of property (Lev. 25: 23), should mthhold
his hand from cultivating the land, and place it whol-
ly at the Lord's disposal for His blessing, that the
whole ordinance is founded. Israel was thus taught
that the earth, though made for man, was yet not
made merely that he might possess himself of its in-
crease, but that it might be holy to the Lord, and
also partake of His blessed rest. The Sabbath year,
therefore, typically points to the time when creation
shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption
(Rom. 8: 21).
The year of Jubilee, by which the Sabbatic cycle was
completed, has, moreover, its own specific import in
the idea of release, and of the reinstatement of the the-
ocracy in its original and divinely appointed order,
in which all were, as the servants of God, to be free,
and each was to be assured of his earthly main-
tenance, by being restored to the enjoyment of the
inheritance allotted to his family for this purpose.
In the prophecy, Isa. 61: 1-3, the year of Jubilee is
204 THE MOSAIC PUBLIC WORSHIP.
as the year of restoration regarded as typical of the
times of the Messiah, in which the discords of the
world's history are to be resolved into the harmony
of the Divine life. And hence Christ designates Him-
self as the fulfiller of this prophecy (Luke 4: 21); while
Heb. 4: 9, by calling the perfected Kingdom of God
the Sabbath of the people of God, also refers to the
type of the year of Jubilee.
Although there were great difficulties in observing
the Sabbatical j^ear, still the system was b}^ no means
impracticable, if the people were willing to sacrifice
all selfish considerations to the Divine will. The
omission of the ordinances, was, however, already
contemplated in Lev. 26: 35, while how far they were
really carried into practice in post-Mosaic times does
not appear. It is evident from 2 Chron. 36: 21, where
it is said that the land lay desolate during the cap-
tivity seventy years to make up for its Sabbath years,
that the celebration of the Sabbatical j^ear had been
omitted during the last centuries before the captivity.
After the captivity, the people, under the influence of
Nehemiah, bound themselves to the observance of the
Sabbatical year (Neh. 10: 31), which, being frequent-
ly mentioned by Josephus, must have been henceforth
the general practice.
[Analysis: 1) The import of the Sabbatical year; 2) its lesson;
3) a type; 4) the import of the year of Jubilee; 5) the prophecy
of Isa. 61: 1— 3; 6) Christ the fulfiller of this prophecy; 7) the
practicability of keeping the Sabbatical years; 8) kept after the
captivity.]
§ 153. Enactments concerning the Passover.
The enactments relating to the Passover are found
in Ex. 12: 1-28, 43-49; 13: 3-10; 23:15; Lev. 23:
5-8; Num. 28: 16-25; Deut. 16: 1-8. In Ex. 12: 1-
20 we have the entire law of the Passover, as deliv-
Tr&E FEAST OF THE PASSOVER. 205
6red to Moses and ^Aaron before the fact with which
this feast was to be connected had taken place,— a
circumstance, the consideration of w^hich will obviate
many apparent difficulties.
During the whole of the festival nothing leavened
might be eaten (Deut. 16: 3), and on the 14th of
Abib or Nisan all leaven and leavened bread were
cleared out of the house. In general the preparations
for the repast took place on the 14th, and the repast
itself, which formed the commencement of the feast of
unleavened bread, on the 15th. The whole animal was
eaten that same night, not a bone of it being broken,
with unleavened loaves and bitter herbs. In remem-
brance of what occurred at the institution of the Pass-
over, the head of the household I'elated the history of
the deliverance of Israel during that night. The
Hallel was chanted during the repast by the assem-
bled family (Ps. 113 and 114 after the second cup and
before eating the lamb, and Ps. 115-118 before the
fourth cup) .
[Analysis: 1) The laws concerning the Passover; 2) the prepa-
rations for the repast ; 3) manner of celebration; 4) the Hallel.)
§ 154. Significance of the Feast of the Passover.
The significance of the Feast of the Passover was,
generally speaking^ a historical one ; it was celebrated
in the remembrance of the deliverance of Israel from
Egypt. In a certain aspect the feast was also the
consecration of the beginning of harvest (Lev. 23: 11,
15). When we inquire into the special import of this
feast, we must, first of all, decide whether the Passover
transaction proper is to be regarded in the light of a sacri-
fice. We would answer the question in the affirmative,
because the Passover is expressly exhibited in a sacri-
ficial point of view in Ex. 12: 27 ("it is the sacrifice
206 THE MOSAIC PUBLIC WORSHIP.
of the Lord's Passover"), in Num. 9: 7, 13 ('"to offer
the oblation of the Lord in its appointed season").
So too it is said in 1 Cor. 5: 7, "For our Passover
also hath been sacrificed, even Christ.''
The next question is, under what c/ass of sacrifices is
the Passover to be comprised ?
Hengstenberg maintains that it belongs to the
class of sin-offerings. "The Passover is a sin-offering
in the fullest and most especial sense." Oehler main-
tains that the fact that it is a repast places the Pass-
over in the class of peace-offerings; and since there
can be no peace-offering vithout an atonement, which
is effected by the sprinkling of the blood, the Pass-
over presupposes an act of expiation effected by the
application of the blood of the paschal lamb. The
application of the blood to the door-posts of the
house, which formed the place of sacrifice at the first
Passover, had the same significance as the atone-
ment and purification of the sanctuary with the
blood of the Day of Atonement (Lev. 16: 16). Covered
and purified by this blood the house was secured
against the destrojdng angel. The blood of atone-
ment was the wall of partition between the people of
God and the world.
The Passover repast bore throughout the character
of a feast. The Israelite received at each Passover
ncAY strength for the 3^ear just commenced. The prohi-
bition against breaking a bone of the paschal lamb,
meant more than an injunction not to treat it like
an ordinarily slaughtered animal, — it rather signified
that those who were partakers of it were united in
inseparable communion. Baehr rightly appeals in
explanation to the analogous passage in 1 Cor.
10; 17.
THE FEAST OF TABERN\CLE8. 207
[Analysis: 1) The significance of the Passover was historical;
2) it was also the consecration of the beginning of harvest; 3)
the Passover must be regarded in the light of a sacrifice; 4) so re-
garded in 1 Cor. 5: 7; 5) must be regarded as a peace-offering;
6) preceded by an atonement ; 7) the repast had the character
of a feast; 8) a type of the Lord's Supper; 9) meaning of the
fact that not a bone of the lamb should be broken.]
§ 155. The Feast of Weeks (Pentecost).
The Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) owes its name to
the fact that it was to be celebrated seven weeks after
the Passover (Lev. 23: 15-21). It was also known
as the feast of harvest, or of first fruits. In the Pen-
tateuch it has the significance of a harvest thanks-
giving. A historical meaning was first given to this
feast by the later Jews, who made it refer to the giv-
ing of the law upon Mount Sinai, which is said by the
Jewish tradition to have taken place on the fiftieth
day after the departure from Egypt, while Ex. 19: 1
states quite generally that it was in the third month.
The central point of the religious celebration of this
festival of one day's duration, was the offering of the
two loaves of first-fruits for the whole people. As the
wave-sheaf at the Passover was a sign that harvest
had begun, so were these wave loaves, a sign that the
harvest was completed. With the offering of these
loaves were combined large burnt, sin, and peace
offerings (Lev. 23: 17, 18). The feast was enlivened
by festal repasts, which were furnished by the free will
offerings (Deut. 16: 10, 11).
[Analysis: 1) The names given to the Feast of Weeks; 2) its
significance; 3) its historical meaning ; 4) the central point of
its religious celebration ; 5) accompanying offerings.]
§ 156. The Feast of Tabernacles.
The Feast of Tabernacles was kept on the seventh
month (Tisri), from the fifteenth day onward and
208 THE MOSAIC PUBLIC WORSHIP.
lasted seven days. To these was added an eighth, the
Aisereth (probably conclusion), ^xhioh. undoubtedly had
a reference to the close of the whole annual cycle of
feasts. The historic import of the Feast of Tabernacles
was to remind the people, by a seven days' dwelling
in booths made of boughs, of the wandering of their
fathers in the mlderness (Lev. 23: 42, 43). It was
the greatest feast of rejoicing of the year, and pro-
vided with more numerous sacrifices than the others
(Num. 29: 12-34). Very splendid ceremonies were
subsequently added to it, especiall}^ the daily libation
o/ wafer, probably ^dth reference to Isa. 12: 3, and
the illumination of the court on the first day of the
feast,— customs to which perhaps the words of Christ,
John 7: 37, 8: 12, may refer.
Thus the festal half of the Israelitish ecclesiastical
year coincided with the season in which the annual
bounties of nature were gathered ; while during the
wintry half of the year, on the contrary, the course of
the Sabbaths and the new moons was, according to
the Moasic ritual, uninterrupted by festivals. It was
only later on, that the Feast of the Dedication in the
ninth month, and the Feast of Purim in the twelfth,
were observed.
[Analysis: 1) The time of the Feast; 2) its historic import; 3)
ceremonies connected with Feast; 4) the festal half of the
Jewish year.]
PART II
PROPHETISM.
PART II.
PROPHETISM.
SECTION I,
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE THEOC^RACY FROM THE
DEATH OF JOSHUA TO THE CLOSE OI' THE OLD TESTA-
MENT REVELATION.
CHAPTEE I.
THE TIMES OF THE JUDGES.
§ 157. Course of Events. Import of the Office of Judge.
The history of the period of the Judges exhibits a
constant alternation between the apostasy of the
people and their consequent chastisement by the
Divine power, on the one hand, and the return of the
people to their God and the Divine deli verances there-
with connected, on the other.
In times of oppression, Avhen the children of Israel
cried unto the Lord (Judg. 3: 9, 15: 4: 3; etc.), in-
dividual men— the Judges— arose, who aroused by the
Spirit of Jehovah, turned back the hearts of the peo-
ple to their God, revived in them the remembrance of
God's dealing with them in past times, and then
broke the hostile yoke under which they were suffer-
ing. The whole aim of the narrative, however, is not
the glorification of these men as the heroes of the na-
tion, but the design is rather to show^ that the help
afforded was the result of an outpouring of the Divine
Spirit; and that God, in effecting the deliverance of
His people, made choice of the lowly and despised as
His instruments. Very instructive in this respect is
the history of Gideon, the most prominent among the
earlier judges.
212 THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE THEOCRACY.
The office of c/f/a(g'e was neither permanent nor hered-
itary, but purely personal. Called to a prominent
position by the necessities of the times, they acted
with energy in the affairs of the individual tribes at
the head of which they were placed, but exercised no
abiding influence upon the nation, which, on the con-
trary, relapsed into its former course, when its bur-
dens were lightened or the Judge was dead (Judg. 2:
16-19).
[Analysis: 1) General character of this period; 2) the Judges; 3)
aim of the Book of the Judges; 4) the import of the office of
Judge.]
§ 158. Religious Condition. Decline of the Theocratic
Institutions.
Are we justified, in speaking of a decline of the theo-
cratic institutions, and does the Book of Judges really
presuppose a legislation and a history such as the
Pentateuch and the Book of Joshua attest? (Great
stress has alwaj^s been laid upon this point by the
opponents of the Mosaic authorship of the Penta-
teuch.) So far as religious institutions in particular
are concerned, it mush be observed that it is foreign
to the entire purpose of the Book of Judges to enter
into the subject, and consequently the inference that
institutions not mentioned therein would not have
existed, is utterly unjustified. This applies equallj^
to the Book of Joshua, which confessedly presupposes
the Pentateuch. There are, however, quite sufficient
data in the Book of Judges to show that although
during this period and down to Samuel the injunc-
tions and ordinances of the law were for the most
part neglected, the theocratic institutions, as they are
said to have existed under Moses and Joshua, are
nevertheless in all essential matters presupposed.
RELIGIOUS CONDITION. 213
The main question is : Does the Book of Judges
know of a central sanctuary as the only authorized
place of sacrifice? or did several sanctuaries of Je-
hovah exist contemporaneously in the times of the
Judges? We answer: The national sanctuary, the
tabernac/e, was during the times of the Judges perma-
nently located at Shiloh (Josh. 18: 1; 19: 51; Judg.
18: 31 ; 1 Sam. 1 ; etc.). It was there that the annual
festivals were solemnized (Judg. 21: 19; 1 Sam. 1:3),
and the regular sacrificial worship was offered (ISam.
2: 12, 13). A second legitimate tabernacle in some
other locality is not once spoken of. The w^hole nar-
rative of 1 Sam. 4, according to which the carrying
away of the ark was regarded as a terrible calamity,
is deprived of all meaning unless the existence of but
a single ark is assumed.
The fact that the Books of Judges and Samuel take
but little notice of the individual sacrificial laws in the
Pentateuch, is easily accounted for by the nature of
the contents of these books.
It has also been claimed that the Book of Judges
knows nothing of the calling of the tribe of Levi, as
appointed in the Pentateuch. On the contrary, we
regard it as a prominent and remarkable fact, that
the Levites appear in the Book of Judges in exactly
that position which Deuteronomy assumes, when it
always classes them with the strangers on account of
their poverty. Nor is it difficult to show why there
were as 3^et no organized Levitical services. The ser-
vices appointed to the Levites in the Pentateuch
ceased with the wanderings of the tabernacle, and
nothing was enacted in the law with respect to their
further employment ; while the period of the disinte-
gration of the theocracy was one utterly un adapted
for the production of new ordinances of worship.
214 THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE THEOCRACY.
[Analysis: 1) During the times of the Judges the ordinances oi
the law were largely neglected; 2) but the legislation of the Pen-
tateuch was presupposed; 3) the Book of Judges knows of only
one authorized place of sacrifice; 4) of only one ark; 5) the reason
the historical books take but little notice of the sacrificial laws;
7) the position of the Levites in the Book of Judges.]
§ 159. Religious Syncretism of this Period.
The commixture Avith other religions was manifested
in a two-fold manner during the age of the Judges.
1) By a blending of the worship of Jehovah with
heathenism, on the part of those Israelites who had
fallen into Canaanitish idolatry. 2) By the fact that
even among those who adhered to the worship of Je-
hovah, the religious consciousness was more or less
obscured by heathen ideas. Hence the image- worship
of Micah and the Danites.
Here likewise the narrative concerning Jephthah
belongs (Judges 11: 28-40). The opinion which pre-
vailed in Jewish antiquity and among the Fathers of
the Church, and which was also embraced by Luther,
and many moderns, is that Jephthah really slew his
daughter, and offered her as a burnt offering upon the
altar. The view that Jephthah only consecrated his
daughter to the service of the sanctuary in a state of
life-long virginity, was first urged by certain mediae-
val Rabbins (Kimchi, Ralbag, etc.), and has since
been maintained by Hengstenberg, Cassel, Gerlach,
Keil, and others, who refer to Ex. 38: 8 and 1 Sam.
2: 22, where women are mentioned as serving in the
sanctuary. According to this view, the fulfillment of
the vow would lie in the words of Judg. 11: 39, which
must not be taken as pluperfect (''and she had not
known man"), but as an account of what now took
place ("and she knew no man"). Oehler grants that
there are some things in the narrative favorable to
RELIGIOUS SYNCRETISM. 215
this view, but nevertlieless rightly maintains that
this interpretation is at variance with the plain mean-
ing of the words, "who did with her according to his
vow which he had vowed", which in their reference to
Judg. 11: 31 cannot relate to a merely spiritual sacri-
fice. It cannot, however, be inferred from the narra-
tive that human sacrifices were at this time legal in
the worship of Jehovah, the matter being evidently
represented as a horrible exception. The history
shows that in those days, when the worship of Baal
and Moloch was still contending for the mastery vdth
the true service of Jehovah, the fear of the Holy One
of Israel, might even in the heart of a servant of the
Lord, be perverted to the shedding of human blood
for the sake of keeping a rashly uttered vow.
(Analysis: 1) The commixture with false reh'gions manifested in
a two-fold manner; 2) the narrative concerning Jephthah; 3) the
explanation of Luther ; 4) of many moderns ; 5) the literal expla-
nation the best; 6) does not however countenance human sacri-
fice.]
CHAPTER II.
FOUNDATION OF THE MONARCHY,
§ 160. The Philistine Oppression. SamueL
The appearance of Samuel, and the growth of Pro-
phetism by his means, form the turning-point of the
period of the Judges. The new state of affairs had
been prepared for, partly" by Phihstine oppression,
which was both a longer and a heavier judgment
than any mth which the people had yet been visited
and partly by the judgeship of Eli.
The person of Samuel, moved as he was by the pro-
phetic spirit, became the centre of the nation's life.
The sanctuary at Shiloh being rejected, and the
agency of the high-priesthood suspended, the media-
torship between God and His people rested with the
prophet, who though not of the priestly race, but by
descent a Levite of the region of Ephraim,^ now per-
formed sacrificial services in the presence of the people
(1 Sam. 7: 9, 10). As the central sanctuary was no
longer existing, we now find various places of sacrifice,
as the high places of Ramah (1 Sam. 9: 13), Bethel
and Gilgal (1 Sam. 10: 3; 11: 15; 15: 21). Thus were
the bounds imposed by the Mosaic ritual for the first
time broken through.
The day of penitence and prayer for which Samuel
assembled the people at Mizpah, in the tribe of Benja-
min, after he had put down idolatry, became, by the
1 The fact that Samuel was devoted to the service of the sanct-
uary by a special vow, proves nothing against his Levitical des-
cent, because without this vow such service was not binding on
him till he should be twenty-five years of agQ,
THE PROPHETIC OFFICE. 217
help of Jehovah, who acknowledged the prayer of His
prophet, a day of victory over their enemies, and the
beginning of their deliverance (1 Sam. 7: 5 — 17). Sa-
muel was henceforth Judge of the whole nation ; and
the prophetic office began from this time to develop
its agency, on which account the history of prophe-
tism, properly speaking, dates from Samuel (Acts. 3:
24).
[Analysis : 1) The history of Prophetism begins with Samuel ; 2)
the prophet became the centre of the nation's life; 3) various
places of sacrifice; 4) Samuel was the last of the Judges.]
§ 161. Nature, Importance, and first Beginnings of the
Prophetic Office.
In the discussion of the institution and duties of the
prophetic office our point of departure must be the
fundamental passage, Deut. 18: 9—22. The character
of the prophetic, differed entirely from that of the
priestly office. It av as not, like the latter, confined to
one tribe and one family, nor, generally speaking to
an external institution, though a certain succession
subsequently took place.
The prophet was to prove his divine mission, not
so much by signs and wonders, for the performance of
which evei^ a false prophet might receive power, as by
his confession of the God who redeemed Israel and
gave them the law (Deut. 13: 1—5). xigain, what the
prophet spoke was to come to pass ; that is, the pro-
phetic word was to be corroborated by its historical
fulfilment.
The prophetic office was designed 1) to prevent a
mere lifeless transmission of legal injunctions, and 2)
to cast a light on the future of the people, and to dis-
close to them the Divine counsels, whether for their
warning or comfort.
The prophet is the man of the Spirit. By the Spirit
218 THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE THEOCEACY.
of Jehovah is the Divine word put into the mouth oi
the prophet, hence also his name Nabhi. The classical
passage as to the meaning of the word Nabhi is Ex. 4:
14-16 taken in connection Avith Ex. 7: 1. The Nabhi
is the interpreter, the one who speaks for another ; who
utters the words that another has put into his mouth.
The gift of prophec}^ is that which institutes a direct
personal intercourse between God and man ; and pro-
phecy thus becomes, through God's self- witness to the
prophet, the type of the teaching of His people by God
Himself under the new covenant (Jer. 31: 34; John 6:
45). The operation of the Divine Spirit, however,
upon the prophet, was not merely intellectual, but
one which renewed the whole man. The prophet be-
came another man (1 Sam. 10: 6), and received an-
other heart (1 Sam. 10: 9.)
The first beginnings of prophecy reach back to the
times before Samuel. For Moses was himself a pro-
phet (Deut 34: 19), and his sister Miriam is also called
a prophetess (Ex. 15: 20; Num. 12: 2). But in the
earlier times of the Judges, the gift of prophecy ap-
peared but occasionally (Deborah, Judg. 4: 4, 6, 14;
1 Sam. 3: 27). There must also, as maj^ be inferred
from 1 Sam. 9: 9, have been from time to time seers,
with whom counsel was taken in private affairs, but
of whom a more extensive sphere of operation cannot
be assumed.
It cannot be proved from Amos 2: 11 that the
schools of the prophets existed before Samuel, — nor from
the fact that Samuel was a Nazarite as well as a pro-
phet, that prophecy being thus combined with Naza-
ritism, these schools of the prophets existed in the
form of ascetic associations, into which many retired
during these troublous times.
*rHE SCHOOLS OF THE PROPHETS. 219
[Analysis: 1) Importance of the passage in Dent. 18: 9—22; 2) the
prophetic office not limited to one family or tribe; 8) proof of the
prophetic mission; 4) aim of the prophetic office; 5) meaning of
the word prophet; 6) the gift of prophecy; 7) Moses was a prophet;
8) the schools of the prophets].
§ 162. The so-called Schools of the Prophets.
There is scarcely any subject of Old Testament his-
tory and theology which could formerly boast of hav-
ing excited so large a share of interest and investiga-
tion as the so-called schools of the prophets, which made
their appearance at only two periods of Israelitish
history, viz., in the days of Samuel, and in the king-
dom of the ten tribes in the times of Elijah and Elisha.
By this assembly of prophets around Samuel, we
understand an association of prophets drawn to-
gether by the leading of the Spirit, and among whom
the prophetic gift was cherished by sacred services
performed in common. It cannot be legitimately in-
ferred that the cultivation of vocal and instrumental
music was the direct end of this association, as musi-
cians are distinguished from prophets. Music was de-
signed, on the one hand, to prepare the mind for the
apprehension of the Divine voice (compare 2 Kings 3:
15); on the other, to be a vehicle for the utterance of
the prophetic inspiration i.
This prophetic office, after Samuel had founded the
kingdom, and delivered up to the king the authority
he had exercised as judge, may be defined as that of
watchman to the theocracy. This oflice of watchman
was to be exercised both toward the nation in general
and toward the holders of theocratic offices in parti-
cular, especially the king. It was also their office to
write the theocratic history.
1 There is so close a connection between sacred song and pro-
phecy, that the former is itself called prophesying (1 Chron. 25: 2,
3); and the chief singers appointed by David (1 Chron. 25: 1, 5;
2 Chron. 29: 30) are called prophets and seers.
^20 THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE THEOCRACY.
[Analysis: 1) The schools of the prophets ; 2) gathered around
Samuel; 3) a close connection between music and prophecy; 4)
the prophet was the watchman and historian of the time.]
§ 163. The Foundation of the Israelitish Kingdom. Conse-
cration of the King.
The request of the people for a king, in the sense in
which it was made to Samuel, was a denial of the
sovereignty of Jehovah, a renunciation of their own
glory as the theocratic people, and a misconception
of the power and faithfulness of the covenant God. A
faulty constitution, and not their own departure from
God and His law, was regarded as the cause of their
misfortunes. Their hope of a better future was there-
fore founded upon the institution of an earthly govern-
ment, and not upon the return of the people to their
God.
To make it evident that the Divine choice was en-
tirely independent of earthly considerations, it was
not a man of importance, but one as yet unknown, of
the least family of the smallest of the tribes (1 Sam.
9: 21), who was raised to the throne.
The consecration to the kingship was effected ac-
cording to ancient and recognized usage, by anointing,
a rite performed by Samuel on Saul (1 Sam. 10: 1),
and subsequently on David (1 Sam. 16: 3), and re-
peated in the case of the latter after his actual en-
trance upon the government (2 Sam. 2: 4; 5: 3), by
the elders of the people.
Anointing was a symbol of endowment with the Di-
vine Spirit (1 Sam. 10: 1, 9; 16: 13), the gift which is
the condition of a A^dse, just, and powerful govern-
ment,—all ability to rule righteously being but an
outflow of Divine msdom (Prov. 8: 15, 16).
[Analysis: 1) The sin of Israel in asking for a king; 2) they rested
their hopes on an earthly government; 8) the divine choice; 4) the
consecration of the king; 5) significance of the anointing.)
CHAPTEK III.
PEEIOD OF THE UNDIVIDED KINGDOM.
§ 164. Saul.
The history of Israel during the time of the undi-
vided kingdom is separated by the reigns of its three
Kings into three sections essentially differing in char-
acter.
The reign of Saul at once displays the Kingdom in
conflict with the theocratic princip/e msiintsimedhy the^ro-
phets. The narrative in the First Book of Samuel,
how Saul after being forsaken by God, advanced step
by step to his tragical end, and the Books of Samuel
in general, are the most complete portion of Old
Testament history ; while the vivid and graphic de-
scriptions, and the sharpness and delicacy with which
the chief characters are portrayed, are excellent even
in an artistic point of view.
[Analysis: 1) The undivided kingdom; 2) character of the reign
of Saul; 3) the graphic narrative of the Books of Samuel.]
§ 165. History of the Reign of David.
David had reigned seven and a half years in Hebron
before he received the submission of all Israel in a
form in w^hich the theocratic principle was expressly
recognized (2 Sam. 5: 2, 3). Thus began the power-
ful reign of David, whose kingship becomes the type
of the kingdom of God which overcomes the world.
Hence all the attributes of the latter are ascribed to
him : he is destined to subdue the heathen (Ps. 18: 43
—47); his dominion is to extend to the end of the
222 THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE THEOCRACY.
earth (Ps. 2: 8; 72: 8; etc.), and is of continual and
eternal duration (2 Sam.' 7: 16; 23; 5; etc.)
The kingship^ as administered by David, appears
neither as a necessary evil nor an improved constitu-
tion, but as a new ethical power. The king becomes
also the representative of the people, and the idea of
Divine Sonship, which in the first place appertains to
the people, is transferred to him. Kingship in the
person of David exhibits also a certain measure of the
priestly cliaracier; for David appeared for the people
before the Lord with sacrifices and intercessions, and
brought back to them the Lord's blessing (2 Sam. 6:
18). 1
It is a peculiarity of David, like Moses and Samuel,
that to a certain degree he unites in himself MreeMeo-
craiic dignities; for the gift of prophecy also was be-
stowed on him, the Spirit of God spoke by him, SAid
the words of God were on his tongue (2 Sam. 23: 2).
In the histor}?- of revelation, the eternal covenant
of God with David and his seed (Ps. 89: 20-37) now
enters as a new element (2 Sam. 23: 5); the full mani_
festation of the kingdom of God being henceforth
combined with the realization of the "sure mercies of
David" (Isa. 55: 3); and thus upon the foundation of
the theocratic notion of kingship arose the prophecy
of its antitypical perfection in Messiah.
It is not, however, solely in virtue of his theocratic
position, but also by reason of his persona/ religious
development, that Da^dd is an important character in
the history of the Old Testament. The contrast be-
tween sin and grace, which it is the object of the pse-
dagogy of the law to bring to light, appeared in all
its sharpness in his inner life ; and his life of continual
This was done, however, without encroaching upon the spe-
cial duties of the priesthood.
THE FORM OF WORSHIP UNDER DAVID. 228
conflict brings to view, both the deep degradation of
the fallen, sin-burdened man, and the elevation of a
spirit richly endowed with divine grace. To a greater
degree than any other Old Testament character, he
experienced the restlessness and desolation of a soul
burdened with the consciousness of guilt, the longing
after reconciliation with God, the struggle after purity
and renovation of heart, the joy of forgiven sin, the
heroic, all conquering power of confidence in God,
the ardent love of a gracious heart for God ; and has
given- in his Psalms imperishable testimony as to what
is the fruit of the law and what the fruit of faith in
man.i
It is impossible to rate too highly the treasure that
Israel possessed in the Psalms, that copy-book of the
saints, as Luther called them ; nor can it be doubted
that it was chiefly by means of the Psalms that the
Word of God dwelt in the homes of Israel, and that
the knowledge of the sacred history was kept up
among the people.
[Analysis: 1) The reign of David is a type of the kingdom ot
God; 2) all the attributes of the latter are ascribed to him; a) the
idea of divine Sonship is transferred to him; 4) he exhibits also
the priestly character; 5) like Moses and Samuel he unites in him-
self three theocratic dignities; 6) the eternal covenant of Godnow
enters upon a new development; 7) his kingship a type of the
kingship of the Messiah; 8) his personal religious deveiopmejit;
9) the lessons of David's life; 10) the Psalms the prayer-book of
the Church of God.]
§ 166. The Form of Worship under David.
The building of the temple, which David was not
permitted to undertake, was at all events prepared
for by him, — for, unless Solomon on entering upon his
government had found considerable treasures, he
1 What a perversion of all Sacred History on the part of those
Higher Critics who deny the Davidic composition ofall the Psalms.
224 THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE THEOCRACY.
could not so quicldj^ have commenced the work of
building.
David displayed an active zeal for public worship,
which manifested itself, in the first place, with respect
to the organization of the priesthood. David regu-
larly organized the priestly service, by dividing the
priests into twenty-four classes, of which sixteen be-
longed to the line of Eleazar and eight to that of
Ithamar (1 Chron. 24: 3-5). Each class had a presi-
dent at its head, and had to officiate for a week, from
Sabbath to Sabbath (2 Chron. 23: 4). The order of
the classes was determined bv lot (1 Chron. 24: 7-
19).
David also organized the service of the Leviies. Op-
portunity was afforded by the introduction of music
into the public worship (2 Chron. 29: 25). By this
service of song, by which words as well as acts were
made prominent in public worship, the spiritualitj^ of
the temple service was increased. Towards the close
of his life, David with a view to the needs of the future
temple, arranged a more complete organization of
Levitical services, dividing the 38,000 Levites who
were at that time thirty years old and upwards into
four classes (1 Chron. 23: 3-5), three of whom had
charge of the service af the sanctuary viz., 1) the ser-
vants of the priests (24,000); 2) singers and musi-
cians (4,000); 3) door keepers (4,000); and to the
fourth class (6,000), called officers and judges, was
delivered the care of external affairs (1 Chron. 26: 29).
The first class was subdivided into 24 courses corres-
ponding with the 24 classes of priests ; the class of
singers and minstrels into 24 bands, each of which
had a president and eleven masters of thesamefamilj^
at its head (1 Chron. 25: 6-31). The share of the
congregation in the musical service of the sanctuary
SOLOMON. 225
seems to have been generally limited to saying
''Amen" and ''Hallelujah", and the like (1 Chron. 10:
36; Jer. 33: 11). It is self evident that the arrange-
ments instituted by David could not be fully carried
out till the completion of the temple by Solomon, as
is indeed expressly stated in 2 Chron. 8: 14, 15.
[Analysis : 1) David made arrangements for the building of the
temple; 2) organized the priestly service; 3) as well as the service
of the Levites; 4) introduced a service of song; the Levites were
organized into four classes; 6) a responsive service.]
§ 167. Solomon. The Building of the Temple.
Among Solomon's works, the temple offers special
matter for consideration with respect to Biblical The-
ology. The description of the temple (1 Kings 6 and
7) is evidently derived from a document compiled by
an eye-witness.^ The proportions of the tabernacle
were in all essential respects followed in the temple
building, which was constructed of hewn stone. It was
divided into two parts, of which the foremost was forty
cubits long ; the hindmost, the holy of holies, twenty
cubits long and as many high and broad, thus form-
ing a cube. Before the east side of the temple was a
porch, the whole breadth of the temple, twenty cubits
long and ten wide. The temple was surrounded on its
three remaining sides by a secondary erection of three
tiers of side chambers, designed for stores and trea-
sures. The Holy of Holies in the temple as Avell as the
tabernacle was quite dark (1 Kings 8: 12). The tem-
ple was next surrounded by two courts, raised one
above the other like terraces (2 Kings 21: 5), of which
the inner one was called the upper court, from its ele-
vated position (Jer. 36: 10). The second court, the
place of worship for the people, was probably separ-
1 Remains of Solomon's temple are still to be seen in the gigan-
tic blocks of masonry, often thirty or more ieetlong, found among
the foundations on the temple site.
22G THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE THEOCRACY.
ated from the first by a railing, thus allowing the con-
gregation to witness what was transacted in the court
of the priests. Thus the separation of the people from
the holy place was more strictly effected in the temple
than in the tabernacle. The furniture and vessels of
the temple corresponded on the whole with those of
the tabernacle, except that they were of increased
dimensions, and that some were found in the former
which where absent from the latter. In the court of
the priests, as in the court of the tabernacle, stood
the altar of burnt- offering ; in the place of the laverof
purification was the so-called brazen sea; on each side
of the court were five brazen lavers, for the purifica-
tion of all that pertained to the altar of burnt-offer-
ing. In the Holy Place, the foremost part of the tem-
ple, as in the tabernacle, were the altar of incense, the
table of shew-bread (according to 2 Chron. 4: 8, ten
tables); while instead of the one candlestick of the
tabernacle there were ten golden candlesticks, five on
each side, before the Holy of Holies. Inihe Holy of
Holies there were besides the ark, two cherubim ten
cubits high, whose four wings, each four cubits long,
spread out horizontally, touched each other in the
midst over the ark, and reached on the right and left
to the two walls of the Holy of Holies.
[Analysis. 1) Description of the temple; 2) modeled after the
tabernacle; 3) the furniture and vessels of the temple; 4) in the
outer court; 5) in the Holy Place; 6) in the Holy of Holies.]
§ 168. Significance and Dedication of the Temple.
The symbolic significance of the temple is entirely
identical with that of the tabernacle. The meaning
of the two colossal columns of brass, called Jachin and
Boaz (1 Kings 7: 15-22), evidently is that God has
here established His temple on a firm foundation,
and that it is therefore to be no longer a traveling
HEBREW PROVERBIAL POETRY. 227
sanctuary like the tabernacle (2 Sam. 7: 5-7). It is
just because Jehovah no longer dwells in a moving
tent, but in a settled house that the cherubim siand
in the temple upon the floor of the Holj^ of Holies,
and make the whole place the constant abode of the
Divine presence. The reason for increasing the one
candlestick and table of shew-bread of the tabernacle
to the ien candlesticks and ten tables of Solomon's
temple, is found in the greater extent of the latter,
the number ten being also itself a completed unity.
After the temple was completed, Solomon had the
ark brought into it, and the tabernacle taken down
and deposited, together with its sacred utensils, in
the temple, probably in the side chambers (1 Kings
8: 4), thus putting an end to the tw^o-f old worship.
The king himself then dedicated the temple by prayer
and sacrifice in the seventh month, Tisri (1 Kings 8).
A sanctuary of permanent countenance seemed now
to be erected ; and Solomon expressed in his prayer
the hope that this house might be a house of prayer
for all nations (1 Kings 8: 41-43).
Concerning the temple worship, we further learn from
1 Kings 9: 25 that Solomon offered sacrifices three
times a year, which refers probably to the pilgrimage
feasts.
[Analysis: 1) Significance of the temple same as that of the
tabernacle; 2) the meaning of the two pillars of brass; 3) change
in the position of the cherubim ; 4) why ten candlesticks; 5) the
tabernacle was stored away in the temple; 6) dedication of tem-
ple; 7) Solomon's prayer; 8) the temple worship.]
§ 169. Hebrew Proverbial Poetry.
As the sacred lyric poetry of Israel is connected
with the names of David, so Solomon, whose peaceful
times invited the Israelitish mind to self-introspec-
tion, w^as the father of the Hebrew proverbial poetry
228 THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE THEOCRACY.
(1 Kings 4: 29-34), and thus the founder of the Old
Testament Hhokhma (Wisdom). From his time onward
there appeared a special class of men under the name
of Hhakhamim, ''the ^dse," (Prov. 1: 6; 22: 17; 24: 23;
etc.), who applied themselves to the consideration of
the moral relations of life and the manner in which
the world is ordered. The province of the Old Testa-
ment Wisdom was different from that of the Law and
of Prophecy — it did not extend to theocratic enact-
ments and directions. A circle of sages, among whom
the king was distinguished for the fertility and many-
sidedness of his genius, and for his acuteness in solv-
ing enigmatical questions (1 Kings 10: 1), was prob-
ably formed at Solomon's court. An association of
Hhakhamim, employing themselves in the collection of
literature, must, according to Prov. 25: 1, have also
existed under Hezekiah (727-696 b. c).
[Analysis: 1) Solomon was the father of proverbial poetry; 2)
the wise men; 3) province of Old Testament Wisdom; 4) these
sages also flourished in the time of Hezekiah.]
§ 170. Solomon's External Organizations.
Solomon employed the long interval of peace in
further carrying out the organization of the state, in
rearing various edifices and fortifications, especially
in Jerusalem itself (1 Kings 9: 15-19), and in the
promotion of industry and commerce (1 Kings 8: 26
-28; 10: 11, 22). This magnificent reign, however,
had its dark side. The king's love of splendor became
more and more oppressive to the people, and he sank
deeper into effeminacy and luxuries, till he at last al-
lowed himself to be seduced by his heathen \vives into
an open breach with theocratic institutions, hy erect-
ing for their sakes (1 Kings 11: 4, 5) sanctuaries for
strange gods in the immediate neighborhood of Jeru-
salem.
Solomon's external organizations. 229
The prophetic order, however, which had, it seems,
long remained in the background, now arose against
the king, to avenge the insulting majesty of the law.
After a warning had been given to Solomon (1 Kings
11: 11-13), Jeroboam, a high official of Solomon, re-
ceived an intimation from the prophet Ahijah that
ten tribes of Israel were to be severed from the house
of David and to be united in a separate kingdom un-
der his sceptre (1 Kings 11: 29-40).
After the death of Solomon, ten tribes renounced
their allegiance to Rehoboam, and made Jeroboam
their king. In vain did Rehoboam raise a consider-
able force from that part of the nation which re-
mained faithful to him; a word from the prophet
Shemaiah sufficed to disband his whole army (1 Kings
12: 22-24; 2 Chron. 11: 2-4).
The disruption of Israel w^as from this time irreme-
diable. The separated kingdoms took hostile posi-
tions with respect to each other, and at last con-
sumed their strength in sanguinary wars. The exter-
nal glory of the kingdom was at an end; but prophecy
never ceased to direct the expectation of the nation
to the future reunion of the twelve tribes under one
head of the house of David.
[Analysis: 1) The bright side of Solomon's reign; 2) its dark
side; 3) the division of the kingdom threatened; 4) Jeroboam
elected kmg by the ten tribes ; 5) the dilemma of Rehoboam; 6)
the relation of the two kingdoms to each other.]
CHAPTER IV.
THE KINGDOM OF THE TEN TRIBES.
§ 171. Preliminary Remari(s.
The history of the Ten Tribes, or of the kingdom of
Israel, comes chiefly under the consideration of BibUc-
al Theology, as exhibiting the serious nature of Divine
retribution. The history is full of conspiracies, regicides,
and civil Avars ; it is a continuous testimony to the
fact that when once the divinely appointed path is
forsaken, sin is ever producing fresh sin, and that the
punishment of one crime is inflicted by another.
Nine d^aiasties, including nineteen kings, succeeded
each other in the 250 years during which the king-
dom existed (975-721 B.C.), and only two of these
dynasties, those of Omri and Jehu, possessed the
throne for any length of time.
[Analysis: 1) The general character of the history of the north-
ern kingdom ; 2) its lessons; 3) its dynasties.]
§ 172. Jeroboam I. to Omri (976-930 b. c).
The first measure taken by Jeroboam was to make
the political separation of the tribes a religious
schism. He erected two separate sanctuaries, one in
the south, at Bethel, and the other in the north at
Dan, where image worship had already existed in the
time of the Judges ( Judg. 18) . One main obstacle to
the image-worship (1 Kings 12: 28) was formed hj
the Levites dwelling among the ten tribes. Jeroboam
therefore drove from his realm the Levites and priests
(2 Chron. 11: 13, 14), and in their place appointed
JEROBOAM I. TO OMKI. 231
other priests, ''whosoever would, he consecrated him"
(1 Kings 13: 33). The moral disorder to which this
priesthood of the northern kingdom fell a prey is
shown in Hos. 4: 6-14; 6:9. It is, however, evident
from several allusions in the prophets Amos and
Hosea, that many Mosaic forms of worship were
practiced in the sanctuaries of the northern kingdom.
For though the date of these prophets is more than a
century later, it is certain that such forms of Jehov-
istic worship as existed in their days in the kingdom
of the ten tribes could not have been introduced sub-
sequently to Jeroboam, but must have been handed
down from ancient times in this kingdom. We see
that the celebration of the Sabbaths, New Moons,
and festivals still continued (Hos. 2: 13: 9: 5; Amos
5: 21; 8: 5, 10); that the different kinds of Mosaic
sacrifices were in use (Amos 4: 5; 5: 22); that the
priests partook of the sin-offerings (Hos. 4: 8-10);
while Amos 4: 4 contains allusions to the tithes of
the third year. All this is of the greatest import-
ance with respect to the criticism of the Mosaic legis-
lation. None of these institutions would have been imported
from the kingdom of Judah, unless the consecration of a
high antiquity had rested upon them.
Four kings reigned during the twenty years inter-
vening between the death of Jeroboam (955 b. c.) and
the ascension of Omri(930B.c:),i but they all walked
in the ways of Jeroboam.
[Analysis:"!) Jeroboam introducea image worship; 2) expels
the Levites and priests; 3) appoints priests who were not oi the
sons of Levi; 4) introduced many of the Mosaic forms of worship;
5) the testimony of Hosea and Amos; 6) bearing upon Higher
Criticism ; 7) the kings of this period.]
1 Jeroboam 976 b. c; Nadab 955 b. c; Baasha 954 b. c; Elah
931 B. c; Zimri 930 b. c; Omri 930 b. c.
232 THE DEVELOPMEiNT OF THE THEOCRACY.
§ 173. The Dynasty of Omri (930-884 b. c).
The dynasty raised to the throne in Omri possessed
the kingdom for more than forty 3^ears. Under Omri,
the royal residence was transferred from Tirzah to
the city of Samaria, of which he was the builder
(1 Kings 16: 24), and which now became the capital
of the kingdom. During Omri's reign the worship of
Jehovah, though in an idolatrous form, had still been
the national religion, but the marriage of Omri's son,
Ahab (919-898 B. c.) with the Phoenician princess
Jezebel, had a disastrous effect upon the religious
condition of the countr}^ At the instigation of the
queen the worship of Baal and Ashera was set up,
and a temple built for Baal in Samaria itself (1 Kings
16: 32, 33). Against the prophets of Jehovah a
sanguinary persecution arose (1 Kings 18: 4, 15),
and they were put to death wherever the queen could
lay hands on them.
At this period the conflict with triumphant heathen-
ism was waged by the individual in whom Avas reflect-
ed the full glory of the Old Testament prophetship.
Elijah the Tishbite was a prophet of fire, whose word
burnt like a torch, and whose very name ' 'Jehovah
is my God," testified against the apostate and ir-
resolute race (1 Kings 17: 1-2 Kings 2: 11). Elisha
was appointed by the Divine command to succeed
Elijah (2 Kings 2: 15-13: 21).
The many miracles which appear in the history of
Elijah and his successor Elisha are peculiar, no mira-
cles being ordinarily attributed to the prophets of
the Old Testament. Here, as well as at the Exodus
from Egypt, it appears that the agency of miracles
was chiefly emploj^ed when the point at issue was to
prove thej existence of the living God, as against the
worshipers of the false gods.
THE PKOPHETISM OF THE PEKIOD. 233
[Analysis:!) The reign oi Omri ; 2) of his son Ahab; 3) Jezebel;
4) Elijah; 5) Elisha; 6) the aim of miracles.]
§ 174. The Prophetism of the Period. The Rechabites.
It is probable that the schools of the prophets were
revived by Elijah, for the purpose of providing a kind
of religious fulcrum for the people who were cut off
from the lawful sanctuary and worship at Jerusalem,
and raise up men who would labor for the quickening
of their spiritual life. Not less than three of these in-
stitutions are found within a tolerably limited area,
and at the very headquarters of idolatry, viz: at
Bethel (2 Kings 2: 3), at Jericho (2 Kings 2: 5), and
at Gilgal (2 Kings 4: 38). About one hundred sons
of the prophets sat before Elisha at Gilgal, and their
number at Jericho could hardly have been less. The
name, sons of the prophets, which is not used of the
association of prophets under Samuel, but first ap-
pears 1 Kings 20: 35, points to an educaiional relaiion.
From these communities the prophets seem to have
traversed the country, for the purpose of exercising
their ministry among the people.
Ordinarily there seems to have been no special cere-
mony for consecrating prophets to their office. The
succession to the office was not connected with any
legal ceremony, nor dependent on human appoint-
ment, but is said to have rested solely on the direct
call and consecration of God (Amos 7: 15; Isa. 6: 8,
9; etc.).
These schools of the prophets served the people of
the northern kingdom as a substitute for the legiti-
mate sanctuary. With regard to their maintenance,
the prophets seem in general to have been dependent
upon voluntary contributions (1 Kings 14: 3).
It was from a school of the prophets that the
234 THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE THEOCRACY.
overthrow of the dynasty of Omri proceeded. Jehu
was anointed king over Israel by one of the sons of
the prophets, and EHsha charged him with the execu-
tion of the curse pronounced by EHjah on the house
of Ahab (1 Kings 21: 21-29). Jezreel was immediate-
ly surprised by Jehu, and Jehoram, his mother Jezebel,
and the whole house of Ahab were slain (2 Kings 9).
In this work assistance was afforded to Jehu by
Jehonadab the son of Rechab (2 Kings 10: 15,
23), who is also known from Jer. 35: 6, as the founder
of the Rechab/tes, a kind of nomadic ascetics, belong-
ing, according to 1 Chron. 2: 55, to the Kenites. Ac-
cording to the statement of Jeremiah (35: 6-11), the
Rechabites were bound to sow no seed, to plant no
vineyards, and to drink no wine. The now current
notion that the Rechabites were connected with
Nazaritism may be correct, but there is no author-
ity for regarding them as Nazarites properly speak-
ing.
[Analysis: 1) Elijah and the schools ol the prophets; 2) Elisha;
3) the prophets were directly called by God ; 4) their office and
maintenance; 5) the dynasty of Omri was overthrown by them;
6) the Rechabites.]
§ 175. The Dynasty of Jehu (884-784 b. c).
Jehu's dynasty maintained itself on the throne for
more than a century, a longer period than that of
any other. But Jehu's reformation stopped half way.
He indeed extirpated the worship of Baal, but the
illegal worship at Dan and Bethel, and also the
Ashera at Samaria, were left unmolested (2 Kings
13: 6). The state of the kingdom under Jehu (884-
856 B. c), and still more under his son and successor
Jehoahaz (856-841 b. c), was in a political aspect a
very unfortunate one. But when the kingdom was
reduced to the last extremity, the dying Ehsha
PROM ZACHARIAH TO THE CAPTIVITY OF THE TEN TRIBES. 285
promised to the dejected Joash (841-824 b. c), the
son and successor of Jehoahaz, victory over the Sy-
rians (2 Kings 13: 14-19), and the prophet Jonah, the
son of Amittai subsequently predicted the restora-
tion of the ancient boundaries of the kingdom (2
Kings 14: 25). Joash was successful in his war against
Damascus and Judah, but the glory of the kingdom
was still further enhanced under his valiant son Jero-
boam II. (824-784 B. c). External success, however,
effected no internal change, and the state was hasten-
ing toward those judgments Vviiich the prophets Amos
and Hosea were raised up to proclaim.
[Analysis: 1) The character of Jehu's reign; 2) of that of Je-
hoahaz; 3) of Joash; 4) of Jereboam IL; 5) the judgments pro-
claimed by the prophets.]
§ 176. From Zachariah to the Captivity of the Ten Tribes
(772-721 B. c).
After the death of Jeroboam, dreadful disorders
broke out in Samaria (Hos. 4). An interregnum in
Samaria of at least twelve years must be admitted.
Zachariah (772 b. c), the son of Jeroboam fell a victim
to a conspiracy six months after his accession, and
thus was fulfilled the doom prophesied against his
house. Shallum (771 b. c), the murderer of Zachariah,
was himself slain, after a reign of one month, by Me-
nahem (771-760 b. c), 2 Kings 15: 13, 14. The hor-
rors of these days are depicted by Hosea (7: 1-16).
A decided turn was now given to affairs ; for Mena-
hem smoothed the way for Pul, king of Assyria, to en-
ter the country, and thus laid the foundation of Isra-
el's dependence on Assyria. Menahem purchased
Pul's assistance, in confirming him in the kingdom,
by heavy sacrifices (2 Kings 15: 19, 20). This was the
first stage of the threatened judgment.
236 THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE THEOCEACY.
In Samaria ^yas henceforth developed that unhappy
policy, which, while on the one hand courting the As-
sjaians, was on the other secretly combining with
Egypt for the purpose of throwing off, by her assist-
ance, the Assj^riati yoke. In opposition to this, the
prophets made it their business to inculcate a higher
policy, by a consistent assertion of the theocratic
principle, which was simply this, that Israel should
never court the protection of worldl}^ power, but seek
assistance from God alone (Hos. 5: 13, 14; 7: 8-16;
etc.). Such exhortations, however, found no audience;
and the prophets were despised and persecuted as
fools (Hos. 9: 7).
The coming ruin was hastened by Pekah, who,
after slaying Pekahiah, the son of Menahem, ascended
the throne in 758 b. c. Towards the close of his
reign, the Assyrian monarch Tiglath-Pileser took the
provinces east of the Jordan and Galilee, and carried
away the tribes inhabiting these regions into the in-
terior of Asia, about 740 b. c. (2 Kings 15: 29). This
v;SiSt\\Q second stage of the judgment. //osAea, who ob-
tained the throne by conspiring against and slaying
Pekah, became tributary to the Assyrian king Shal-
manezer, but sought, by concluding an alliance with
So, king of Egypt, to release himself from his depend-
ence. Shalmanezer immediately^ marched into the
land of Israel, and Samaria was taken after a three
years' siege, not by Shalmanezer, but, as is now set-
tled by the cuneiform inscriptions, by his successor,
Sargon. The people were led into captivity 721 b. c,
and thus was the Judgment accomplished (2 Kings 17:
7-23). The dwelling-places assigned to the exiles were
situated in Media and the upper provinces of Assj^ria
(2 Kings 17: 6).
ORIGIN OF THE SAMAKITAXS. 23?
[Analysis: 1) The iuteiTegnum in Samaria; 2) Hosea depicts
the horrors from the period from 772—760 b. c; H) Pul, the king
of Assyria; 4) the policy of the kings of Israel ; 5) the exhorta-
tions of the prophets; 6) Tiglath-Pileser; 7) Sargon; 8) the
captivity of the Ten Tribes.]
§ 177. Origin of the Samaritans.
In place of the Israelites who were carried into exile,
colonies from central Asia were planted in the depop-
ulated country by Sargon (2 Kings 17: 24). Esar-
haddon, the son of Sennacherib, also sent colonies
into the still sparsely peopled land (Ezra 4: 2). These,
to avert the judgments which befell them, mingled
the worship of Jehovah, as the God of the land, with
the heathen religions they had brought with them
from their respective homes (2 Kings 17: 25-41).
Thus arose the so-called Samaritans or Cuthites, as
they were named by the Jews, fromCuthah, the native
country of a portion of them. Two views are held
with respect to these Samaritans. 1) Some hold that
they were not a purely heathen people, but a mixed
race arising from the intermarriage of the new colon-
ists with the remnants of the ten tribes which were
left in the land. 2) The other and older view is, that
the Samaritans proceeded from wholly heathen races,
a view, in modern times, re-advocated especially by
Hengstenberg. The Old Testament passages (2 Kings
17: 24-41; Ezra 4: 2, 9, 10) favor the second view.
Nevertheless, even under Josiali (G39-608 B.C.), rem-
nants of Manasseh, Ephraim, and of the rest of Israel,
are assumed as still dwelling in the northern regions
(2 Chron. 34: 9), and the men from Shechem, Shiloh,
and Samaria, named in Jer. 41: 5 as mourning for
the destruction of Jerusalem were undoubtedly Israel-
ites. Besides, the total deportation of the entire
population of so important a district is hardly to be
238 THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE THEOCRACY.
supposed possible. This much, however, is certain,
that the Israehtish element among the Samaritans,
must by no means be computed as so considerable as
is generally the case.
[Analysis: 1) The origin of the Samaritans ; 2) two views have
been advocated; 3) evidently a mixed race; 4) the Israelitish
element the weakest.]
CHAPTER y.
THE KINGDOM OF JUDAH.
§ 178. Preliminary Remarks and Survey.
The history of the kingdom of Judah has a
character essentially different from that of the king-
dom of Israel. Though much smaller, it was still
superior to that kingdom in internal strength. This
resulted partly from its possession of the genuine
sanctuary with its legitimate worship, its influential
priesthood, and Levitical orders ; and partly from its
royal house, which had not been raised to the throne
by revolution, but possessed the sanction of legitim-
acy and a settled succession, and was especially con-
secrated by the memory of its illustrious ancestor
David, and the Divine promises vouchsafed to his
race. Moreover, among the nineteen monarchs (of
course not counting Athaliah) who occupied the
throne from Rehoboam till the fall of the state, there
were at least some individuals distinguished for high
administrative talents, in whom the ideal of the theo-
cratic kingship was revived, such as Jehosaphat
(915-893 B. c), Hezekiah (727-696 b. c), Josiah
(639-608 B.C.). Since the preservation of the theo-
cratic ordinances did not devolve in Judah exclusive-
ly upon the prophets, their position was different
from that which they occupied in the kingdom of the
ten tribes. There is no sort of evidence that schools
of the prophets, or associations such as existed in the
kingdom of the ten tribes, were organized in Judah.
In the historical notices of the kingdom of Judah we
240 THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE THEOCRACY.
meet only Avitli individual prophets, a succession of
whom continues, with but inconsiderable gaps, down
to the captivity, and it was only around eminent
prophets like Isaiah (760-690 b. c.) (Isa. 8: 16), and
afterwards Jeremiah (628-583 b. c), that small cir-
cles of disciples were gathered.
[Analysis: 1) The internal strength of the kingdom of Judah ;
2) its three great kings ; 3) the office of the prophets.)
§ 179. Rehoboam to Jehosaphat (976-893 b. c).
The history of Judah under Rehoboam (976-959
B. c.) and Abijah (959-956 b. c) offers little that is
worthy of notice. External misfortunes were added
to the internal declension occasioned by the spread of
idolatry. Then followed the first reformation under
Asa (956-915 B. c). t/ey^osa/?^a/ (915-893 b. c), the
son of Asa, one of the best rulers of the house of
David, was still more zealous for the establishment
of the theocratic ordinances. To promote religious
knowledge among the people, a commission, consist-
ing of five high officials, two priests, and nine Levites,
was sent about the countrj^ with the book of the law
to instruct the people (2 Chron. 17: 7-9). Under
Jehosaphat not only did the priesthood attain great
influence, but the powerful prophets Jehu (2 Chron.
19: 2) and Eliezer (2 Chron. 20: 37) also exercised
their office during his reign. Externally the reign
of Jehosaphat was prosperous.
[Analysis: 1) The reigns of Rehoboam and Abijah; 2) the re-
formation of Asa; 3) the glorious reign of Jehosaphat.]
§ 108. Jehoram to Jotham (893-741 b. c).
Jehoram (893-885 b. c), the son of Jehosaphat,
one of the worst kings of Judah, was married to ^Ma-
liah, a daughter of Aliab and Jezebel. He became a
zealous promoter of the Phoenician idolatry, and his
AHAZ AND HEZEKIAH. 241
reign was also unfortunate externally. Their son,
Ahaziah, after scarcely one year's reign, was slain
along with the whole house of Ahab, on the occasion
of a visit which he was paying to his royal relatives
in Israel (2 Chron. 22: 6-9). Aihaliah, the daughter
of Jezebel, who was worthy of her mother, now ruled
absolutely at Jerusalem (884-878 B.C.). In an in-
surrection Athaliah was slain, and Joash (878-838
B. c), a young son of Ahaziah, who was saved from
the fury of his grandmother Athaliah by being con-
cealed in the temple during six 3^ears, was raised to
the throne. In the beginning of his reign the worship
of Jehovah flourished, and it is to this period that
the book of the prophet Joel must be assigned. In
the latter partof the reign of Joash, however, idolatry,
through the influence of the nobles, again got the up-
per hand, and after a very unsuccessful war against
the Sja^ians, Joash fell a victim to a conspiracy. A
similar fate was experienced by his son Amaziah (838
-809 B. c), and Uzziah (809-757 b. c.) ascended the
throne at a time of great disorder. The kingdom of
Judah during his reign and that of his son Jotham
757-741 B. c.) attained a degree of power such as it
had not possessed since the disruption. Still, not-
withstanding the general adherence of Uzziah and Jo-
tham to the theocratic ordinances (2 Kings 15: 3, 34),
the moral and religious condition of the people was
not satisfactory. The characteristics of the times are
described in Isa. 2: 5-8; 5: 18-23.
[Analysis: 1) The reign of Jehoram; 2) of A.lmziah; 3) of Atha-
liah; 4) of Joash; 5)of Amaziah; 6) oi Uzziah; 7) oif Jotham; 8)
the prophet Joel; 9) Isaiah.]
§ 181. Ahaz and Hezekiah (741-696 b. c).
During the reign of the weak and idolatrous Ahaz
(741-727 B. c.) Judah experienced a series of mis-
242 THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE THEOCEACY.
fortunes. When the heart of Ahaz and the heart of
his people were moved as the trees of the wood are
moved by the T^ind (Isa. 7: 2), the help of the God of
Israel was offered him in vain by Isaiah. During his
reign the Avorshij^ of idols was openly practiced in Je-
rusalem itself (2 Kings 16: 3, 4; 2 Chron. 28; 2-4).
Better things were to be expected of the pious and
powerful Hezekiah (727-696 b. c), under whom Isaiah
zealously labored, and who also humblj^ received the
testimony given at Jerusalem by the prophet Micah
(Jer. 26: 18, 19). But moral corruption was found
everywhere, and instead of patiently submitting to
the Assyrian yoke as a just punishment, as Isaiah
called upon them to do (Isa. 10: 24-27: 30: 15-18),
the nobles in Jerusalem were continually plotting to
revolt from Assyria and urged the king to ally him-
self with Egypt. This revolt took place soon after the
accession of Sennacherib, who, on his march toward
Egypt invaded and devastated Judah. Sennacherib
at first appears to have been pacified by an enormous
tribute (2 Kings 18: 13-16), but afterwards broke
his engagement and marched against Jerusalem. He-
zekiah indeed used every means possible for the de-
fence of the city (2 Chrom 32: 3-6; Isa. 22: 9-11), but
so desperate was the state of affairs, that Hezekiah
knew of no other refuge than that of prayer. The
deliverance took place, by the destruction of the Assj'-
rian army, on the very night before Sennacherib ad-
vanced to attack the city (Isa. 36: 1—37: 37: 2 Kings
18: 13—19: 36). This event probably occurred in the
neighborhood of Jerusalem, and may be supposed
to have been effected by a pestilence. A description
of this occurrence is given from an Egyptian stand-
point in Herodotus (Book 2: 141).
[Analysis: 1) The reign of Ahaz; 2) of Hezekiah; 3) the expedi-
tion of Sennacherib ; 4) the deliverance of Jerusalem.]
MANASSEH AND AMON. 243
§ 182. Manasseh and Amon (696-639 b. c).
Judah was fast ripening for judgment under the
two kings Manasseh (696-641 b. c). and Amon (641-
639 B. c), who systematically set to work to over-
throw the worship of Jehovah, and to re-establish the
undisputed supremacy of idolatry. While no trace of
resistance to the abomination of Manasseh is to be
discovered on the part of the priesthood, there were at
least prophets who raised their voices against them (2
Kings 21: 10), and were among the innocent blood
with which Manasseh filled Jerusalem (2 Kings 21: 16;
24: 4). According to tradition, Isaiah was also among
the victims of Manasseh.
[Analysis: 1) The reign of Manasseh; 2) of Amon; 3) the death
of Isaiah.]
§183. Josiah (639-608 B.C.).
This period opens mth the last struggle of the theo-
cratic principle against the idolatry and immorality
of the people, and with the last temporary elevation
of the kingdom under Josiah (639-608 b. c). In the
eighteenth year of his reign (at theageoftwentj^-six),
Hilkiah the high priest found the book of the law, which
during the sixty years' public supremacy of heathen-
ism had fallen into oblivion. i The king, struck with
fear when he heard the curses threatened for apostacy,
took the most strenuous measure for the complete
extirpation of idolatry, but this reformation effected
only an external prevalence of the forms of the legiti-
mate worship, and was unable to produce in the de-
generate nation a real purification of faith and morals.
1 It is not necessary to discuss the various hypotheses, as to
the nature of this lost ''book of the law," as presented by the
negative Higher Critics. It is highly probable that this Book of
the Law was the autograph copy of Moses, which had been laid
up beside the ark, — and not simply a forgery, nor the lately written
book of Deuteronomy, but the whole Pentateuch.
244 THE DEVELOPME^•T OF THE THEOCRACY.
Upon Jeremiah especially, whose call was nearly con-
temporary Avith the appearance of Zephaniah and the
commencement of Josiah's reforms, devolved at this
period, the advocacy of the cause of God.
Analysis: 1) The reign of Josiah; 2) the finding of the Book of the
Law; 3) the prophets Jeremiah and Zephaniah ]
§ 184. Profane History at this Period. Jehoahaz
(608 b. c).
Judah was involved in the great battles which arose
in connection with the fall of Nineveh. Necho, king of
Egypt, appeared with an army in Palestine, on his
way to Assyria (2 Chron. 35: 21), and Josiah at-
tempted to obstruct his march. A battle was fought
between them at Megiddo, on the plain of Jezreel, in
which the Jewish army was defeated, and Josiah,
mortall}^ wounded, died soon after at Jerusalem (2
Kings 23: 29; 2 Chron. 35: 20-25). Jehoahaz was,
after a reign oi three months, summoned to the
Egyptian camp at Riblah, on the northern boundary
of Palestine, and there imprisoned, while Eliakimwas
set up in his stead as an Egyptian vassal king, by the
name oiJehoiakim. Jehoahaz was afterwards removed
to Egypt, w^here he died (2 Chron. 36: 1-4; 2 Kings
23: 31-35; Jer. 22: 10-12).
[Analysis: 1) The fall oi Nineveh; 2) the battle of Megiddo; 3)
the death of Josiah; 4) the reign of Jehoahaz.]
§ 185. Jehoiakim and Jehoiachin (608-598 b. c).
In Jehoiakim (608-598 b. c.) Judah received a king
who surpassed the worst of his ancestors in badness.
Idolatry was again openly practiced, and all the re-
forms of Josiah Avere obliterated. A grievous period
of affliction and persecution now set in for Jeremiah.
Disgrace and persecution were heaped upon the
prophet, who undauntedly and incessantly contended
JEHOIAKIM AND JEIIOIACHIN. 245
against the prevailing idolatry and ^Yickedness, and
against the degenerate priests and false prophets who
now appeared in great numbers, and sought by their
deceptions to invalidate the testimony of the true
prophet. After the destruction of Nineveh in 606 B.C.,
in which the prophecy of Nahum, probably a younger
contemporary^ of Isaiah, was fulfilled, matters took a
new turn in Hither Asia. After the battle of Carchem-
ish (605 B. c), a fortress situated on the Euphrates,
all Hither Asia fell into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar
(2 Kings 24: 7). eTeremiah now^ announced, in the
spirit of prophecy, the purpose for which the Chaldean
power was appointed by God, and its predetermined
duration of seventy years (eTer. 25: 11, 12). When
Nebuchadnezzar took possession of Jerusalem, he
carried off to Bab^don a part of the vessels of the
temple, and certain noble youths, including Daniel.
Jehoiakim himself w^as put in chains to be taken to
Bab^don (2 Chron. 36: 6), but w'as afterward left be-
hind as the vassal of the Chaldean empire. Three
years after, Jehoiakim rebelled (2 Kings 24: 1), but
died during the w^ar, 599 or 598 b. c. His son Jehoia-
chin (Coniah) then succeeded, but w^as dethroned '
after a reign of three months by Nebuchadnezzar, w^ho
now came and carried him away, together \\\t\i the
nobles, men of war, and priests, to Babylon. This
w^as the second deportation, and by it the better portion
of the people w^as taken intocai^tivity. Amongthose
carried to Babylon was Ezekiel, who from the fifth
year of his captivity onward filled the office of prophet
to the exiles at Chebar.
[Analysis: 1) The reigD of Jehoiakim; 2) the persecution of Je-
remiah; 3) the destruction of Nineveh; 4) the fulfilment of the
prophecy of Nahum ; 5) the battle oi" Carchemish; 6) Jerusalem
captured; 7) Daniel; 8) the second deportation ; 9) Ezekiel.]
246 THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE THEOCRACY.
§ 186. Zedekiah. Fall of the State and of Jerusalem
(598-586 B.C.).
Zedekiah (598-588) b. c), the last king of Judah,
was a weak prince, who hved in shameful dependence
ujjon the low upstarts who had now seized upon
power. Although he had sworn fealty to Nebuchad-
nezzar (2 Chron. 36: 13), he nevertheless, in the ninth
year of his reign, openly broke his oath, and conclud-
ed an alliance Avith the Egyptian king. In vain had
Jeremiah warned him, by repeatedly declaring the
Divine appointment of Nebuchadnezzar to be the in-
strument of judgment to Judah and the surrounding
nations. When Nebuchadnezzar appeared before Je-
rusalem, Jeremiah counseled the surrender of the city.
But the nobles cast Jeremiah into prison, who, how-
ever, was secret!}' released by the king, and kept in the
court of the prison (Jer. 37: 11-21). A second time
he was cast into a dungeon by the princes that he
might there perish with hunger, but was again deliv-
ered by the king (Jer. 38: 6-13).
After a siege of eighteen months, a breach was made
in the fortifications, and Zedekiah was captured, and
after his sons had been executed before his eyes, was
deprived of his sight and taken in chains to Babylon
(Jer. 39: 1-7; 2 Kings 25: 1-7). The desiructioa of Je-
rusalem and the third deportation of the people was effected
by the Chaldean general Nebuzaradan (2 Kings
25: 8-11; Jer. 39: 8-14), 588 b. c. With ferocious
exultation, the neighboring states, and especially the
Edomites hastened to the spot, to feast their eyes
upon the spectacle of the fall of this detested people
(Ps. 137: 7; Ezek. 35: 15; 36: 5).
[Analysis: 1) The last king of Judah; 2) the prophecies of
Jeremiah; 3) the destruction of Jerusalem; 3) the exultation of
the enemies of Israel.]
GEDALIAH AND THE REMNANT OF THE PEOPLE. 247
§ 187. Gedaliah and the Remnant of the People.
A remnant of the people, among whom was Jere-
miah, was left in the land (Jer. 39: 11-14; 40: 1-6);
and fields and vineyards were assigned to them by
Nebuzaradan (Jer. 39: 10). Nebuchadnezzar placed
over them as his viceroy Gedaliah, a son of the prince
Ahikam, who had a high oflicial position under Josiah
(2 Kings 22: 12). The viceroyship of Gedaliah, how-
ever, lasted only two months, for he was treacherous-
ly slain at a banquet (2 Kings 25: 23-26). The Jews
who were still remaining, fearing the vengeance of Ne-
buchadnezzar, determined in spite of the warnings of
Jeremiah to emigrate to Egypt, whither the prophet
also followed them. Jeremiah was here also con-
strained to exercise his oflice of reprover, and prob-
ably terminated his storm-tossed life in this country,
according to patristic tradition, being stoned by his
fellow-countrymen. To this period belong Jer. 40-
44.
[Analysis: 1) A remnant of the people was left in Palestine; 2)
Gedaliah; 3) emigration to Egypt; 4) the prophecies oi Jere-
miah,]
CHAPTER VI.
THE EXILIC AND POST-EXILIC HISTORY OF THE JEWS.
§ 188. Condition of the People and Agency of the Prophets
during the Captivity.
The condition of the Jews in captivity does not
seem, so far as we can ascertain from the writings of
Jeremiah and Ezekiel, to have been one of special op-
pression (Jer. 29: 4-7). The same word of prophecy,
whose truth was proved by the j iidgment which had
fallen upon them, exhorted them to wait with patience
for the hour when the dehverance of Israel should ap-
pear in the doom of Babjdon. As the kingship and
priesthood were annulled, the leadership of the people
devolved exclusively^ on the prophets. Perhaps it was
from the custom Avhich now arose among the Israel-
ites, of gathering around a prophet to hear the word
of God, that Synagogues originated. But the prophets
of God had, during the captivity, a mission to fulfil
to the heathen also. The conflict waged by Jehovah
against the gods of the land, when he delivered his
people out of Egypt, was renewed with increased in-
tensity at Babylon.. To carry on his struggle was the
special vocation of Daniel, Avho was educated at the
Babylonian court, in all the wisdom of the Chaldees,
and raised to the highest honors.
[Analysis: 1) The condition of the people during the exile; 2) the
prophets became the leaders of the people; 3) the origin of the
Synagogues; 4) the mission of the prophets to the heathen; 5)
Daniel.]
DELIVERANCE AND RETURN OF TUE JEWS. 249
§ 189. Deliverance and Return of the Jews from Babylon.
Commencement of the Re-building of the Temple.
After Cyrus had ascended the Medo-Babylonian
throne, he gave the Jews permission, in the first year
of his reign, to return to Palestine and to rebuild their
destroyed temple at Jerusalem (2 Cliron. 36: 22, 23;
Ezra 1: 1-11). The act of Cyrus can only be explained
by the religious interest which he took in the Jews, and
is not to be explained on other grounds. The return
from Babylon took place under the conduct of Zerub-
babel, a hereditary prince of the tribe of Judah, who
was made the Persian viceroy. With him was associ-
ated, as spiritual ruler of the people, the high priest
Joshua. Under the direction of these men, 42,360
Israelites (Ezra 2: 64; Neh. 7: 66) with more than
7,000 bondmen and bondwomen returned to Palestine.
These belonged for the most part to the tribe of c/f/-
dah, but individuals belonging to other tribes may
also have been found among the band. The returned
Jews at first assembled for the worship of God at an
altar set up for the purpose, but preparations were
immediately made for the re-building of the temple
(Ezra 2: 68, 69; 3: 7-9). It was a time of hearty en-
thusiasm, which showed itself more especially at the
lading of the foundations of the temple in the second
month of the following year (Ezra 3: 3-10). The new-
ly settled nation w^as, however, to experience grievous
trials. The Samaritans, whose desire to obtain a share
in the new temple was rejected, revenged themselves
by intriguing at the Persian court to hinder the build-
ing, which now ceased till the second year of Darius
Hystaspes (Ezra 4: 1-5).
[Analysis: 1) The edict of Cyrus; 2) the return under Zerubbabel;
3) the re-building of the temple; 4) the hatred of the Samaritans.]
250 THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE THEOCRACY.
§ 190. The Period from Cyrus to Darius Hystaspes.
Of this interval we have no account, for the section
Ezra 4: 6-23 refers to the period of Xerxes and Ar-
taxerxes. In the whole period from Cjriis to Darius
Hj^staspes, hindrances to the building of the temple
are only mentioned, and Ezra 4: 5 should be immedi-
ately followed by ver. 24. In the sixth month of the
second year of Darius (520 b. c), the prophet Haggai
was raised up to encourage the viceroy Zerubbabel
by prophecy, and revive the hopes of the people in
their promised redemption. When, however, the mean-
ness of the building (Hag. 2:8; Zech. 4: 10) produced
fresh despondency, the people were comforted by
Haggai and b}^ Zechariah. As, in spite of all difficul-
ties, the building of the temple would now be success-
fully accomplished (Zech. 4: 7-9), so also was redemp-
tion assured to them. Soon that great shaking of
the nations would take place, in which the heathen
powers would wear each other out (Hag. 2: 6, 21:
Zech. 2: 1-4). Then would the kingdom of God, into
which the Gentiles should be incorporated, and to
which they should dedicate all their treasures, tri-
umph (Hag. 2: 7-9; Zech. 8: 20-28). When Darius
heard of the rebuilding of the temple he not onh^ com-
manded that no hindrance should be laid in the way,
but even granted state assistance both for the re-
building and for the regular maintenance of the sacri-
fices. The building consequently proceeded and the
temple was finished and dedicated in the sixth year of
Darius, 516 b. c. (Ezra 5 and 6).
[Analysis: 1) Hmdrances to the building of the temple; 2) the
prophets Haggai and Zechariah; .3) the dedication of the temple.]
THE JEWS tJNDEE XERXES. 251
§ 191. The Jews under Xerxes. Beginning of Ezra's Ad-
ministration.
We have no information concerning the condition
of the people in Palestine during the next fifty-eight
years, except the short paragraph in Ezra 4:6, which
refers to the time of Xerxes. On the other hand the
occurrences in Persia, to which the book of Esther refers,
belong to this period, to the reign of Xerxes.
In the time of Ariaxerxes Longimanus the thread of
the history of the Jewish settlement in the Holy Land
is again taken up, first by the book of Ezra (Chap. 7),
in the seventh year of this monarch (Ezra 7: 7), 458
B. c. We find the colony in Palestine at this time in
a state of great depression. Matters took a turn for
the better, when Ezra brought a second band of Israel-
ites into Judea. He began his work of reformation
by the dismissal of all the heathen wives. Of Ezra's
subsequent administration during the next twelve
years, nothing is narrated. What happened during
the period may be inferred from the record in Ezra 4:
7-23.
[Analysis: 1) The Jews under Xerxes; 2) under Artaxerxes; 3)
Ezra's administration.]
§ 192. Ezra and Nehemiah. The Close of Prophecy.
Nehemiah, who was sent to Jerusalem by Artaxer-
xes in the 20th year of that monarch's reign (445 b.
c), with the authority of governor, effected the re-
storation of the walls and gates of Jerusalem, and set
heartily to work at the removal of internal sores.
Ezra also now began to act in his capacity of a teach-
er of the law. To Ezra must be attributed not a re-
foundation of the theocracy, but only a restoration
of the ordinances of the law. He was the founder of
Judaism proper; and in this very fact lies his great im-
portance in the history also of the kiugdom of God.
252 THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE THEOCEACY.
After a twelve years' sojourn in Palestine, Nehemiali
returned to Persia (433 b. c). New abuses sprang up
during Ms absence, and lie returned for a second time,
probably before the death of Artaxerxes (424 b. c).
During the time of his second governorship, Malachi,
the last of the canonical prophets of the Old Testa-
ment, exercised his ministry. From the Book of Mal-
achi we learn that an exte-rnal legalism, which subse-
quently developed into Pharisaism, had now taken
possession of the masses. With the promise of the
Divine Messenger, Avho was, in the power of Elijah, to
prepare the w^ay for the Lord who was coming to His
temple (Mai. 3: 1; 4: 5), the prophecies of the Old
Testament conclude. ^
[Analysis: 1) The work of Nehemiah; 2) the importance of the
work of Ezra; 3) Malachi, the last prophet; 4) Jewish apocalyptic
literature.]
§ 193. The Beginning of Sopherism. Public Worship at
the Close of this Period
In place of the prophets the Scribes or Sopherim now
appear, of whom Ezra was the prototype and repre-
sentative (Ezra 7: 6, 10). Tradition assigns to him
a college of scribes, under the name of the great Syna-
gogue, as sharers in his work of organization, but the
historical books of the Old Testament know of no
such authority. From this time on, however, the
scribes, who diligently applied themselves to the study
and exposition of the law, formed a separate class.
The priests, as such, were now restricted to the per-
1 Jewish apocalyptic literature,— such as the Book of Enoch,
the Jewish Sibyllines, the Fourth Book of Ezra, the Psalter of
Solomon, — is an aftergrowth of prophecy and the product of
reflection. It bears the character of secret literature, and un-
doubtedly originated in those narrower circles in which the hopes
of Israel were kept alive, when prophecy ceased, by the study of
the prophetic word. No prophet, properly so called, is known by
Judaism after Malachi.
THE BEGINNING OF SOPHERlSM. ^53
formance of religious rites and the transactions con-
nected therewith. By the side of those services of the
temple which were connected with the priesthood,
was more and more developed the service of the syna-
gogue, with the reading and exposition of the law%— a
•service whose administration devolved upon the
scribes. This now formed the actual centre of the re-
hgious life of Judaism.
[Analysis: 1) The Scribes; 2) the Great Synagogue; 3) the origin
of the synagogue.]
SECTION II.
THE THEOLOGY OF PROPHETISM.
§ 194. Summary.
The theology of Mosaism is further developed by
prophecy, especially in the following respects :
1. With regard to the doctrine of God and of His
relation to the world, with which is connected a fur-
ther expansion of angelology.
2. The intrinsically moral nature of the law is fur-
ther developed b}^ prophecy ; in other words, the doc-
trine of sin and of righteousness is further unfolded.
3. The communion of man with God culminates in
Prophecy.
4. The progress of the kingdom of God forms the
essential matter of prophecy.
CHAPTER VII.
THE DOCTRINE OF THE LORD OF HOSTS AND OF ANGELS.
§ 195. Jehovah Sabaoth. Partial Views concerning its
Original Meaning.
The full expression of this name of God is Jehovah,
God of Sabaoth (Hebrew Tsebhaoih). Sabaoth never ap-
pears alone as a name of God in the Hebrew text of
the Old Testament. Nor does Jehovah Sabaoth occur
as the Divine name in the Pentateuch, Joshua, or
Judges. It is first mentioned in the narrative of the
times of Eli ; and it is by this name that Hannah in-
JEHOVAH SABAOTH. 2o5
vokes God (1 Sam. 1: 11). The name seems to have
been especially in use in the days of Samuel and Da-
vid. It sometimes appears in the Psalms, but only
in the first three books. In the Books of the Kings
it seldom occurs, and only in the mouths of the
prophets Elijah and Elisha. In the prophetical books
it is most frequently found in Amos, Isaiah, Jeremiah,
Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.
This name, according to its original meaning, is
said by many to designate Jehovah as the God of
baiiles of His people, who are called ''the armies" or
"hosts" of the Lord (Ex. 7: 4; 12: 41). But though
it is true, that there is in this name a reference to the
fact that God manifests Himself in irresistible power
against the enemies of His people, yet if this were its
original meaning, it is strange that the name did not
make its appearance in those ancient times which w^ere
expressly the times of the great theocratic conflicts
("the wars of Jehovah" Num. 21: 14); and again that
it did not originate, but was already in use, in the
warlike age of David. A higher notion is involved in
the expression, namely this, that the fact that the
God of the armies of Israel is also the Lord of Hosts
makes Him so terrible a God.
A second view appeals to Gen. 2: 1, where it under-
stands the expression Tsebhaoih as applying to the
creatures in general, who together compose the great
army of the Lord. So that according to this view it
is the majesty of God in general, as displa^^ed in His
dominion over the whole creation, which this name
expresses.
The true explanation of the name, however, must
be derived from the phrase host of heaven.
[Analysis: 1) The name Jehovah Sabaoth; 2) where found; 3) its
original meaning; 4) a second view; 5) true explanation.]
256 THE THEOLOGY OF PROPHETISM.
§ 196. The Host of Heaven. 1. The Heavenly Bodies.
The host of heaven in the Old Testament includes
the heavenly bodies and the celestial spirits. The Old
Testament distinctly maintains not only the creature-
hood of the heavenly host (Ps. 33: 6), but also the
distinction of the two above named classes. It is only
by a poetical personification that the stars are spoken
of in the song of Deborah ( Judg. 5: 20) as the warriors
of the Lord, who, leaving their courses, descend to
fight for Israel against Sisera, and that the morning
stars are said in Job 38: 7 to have joined with the
angels in celebrating the morning of creation. The
heavenly bodies are declared to be merel}^ light-
bearers, created by God, and as such subserving earth-
ly purposes (Ps. 104: 19-23). They manifest, indeed,
by their splendor and their course, the greatness and
wisdom of the Creator (Ps. 8: 3; 19: 1-6; Job. 9: 9;
38: 31-33; etc.), but their brilliancy admits of no
comparison with the Divine glory (Job. 25: 5). Thus
they are the hosts of God whom His almighty will
commands (Isa. 40: 26; 45: 12); they serve to pro-
claim and to glorify His judgments (Joel 3: 15; Isa.
13: 10; Hab. 3: 11). Their creaturehood is shown by
the fact that they as well as the terrestrial creation
are transitory (Isa. 34: 3; 51: 6; Ps. 102: 26, 27).
[Analysis: 1) What is included among the host of heaven; 2) the
stars are personified; 3) they are the light-bearers; 4) manifest
the glory of God; 5) but are transitory.]
§ 197. 2. The Host of the Heavenly Spirits.
The Old Testament speaks of the host of heavenly
spirits, the armies of the sons of God, the angels, in a
three-fold aspect:
1. They form the higher church, which, standing at
the head of the choir of the universe, adores God in
THE HOST OF THE HEAVENLY SPIRITS. 257
the heavenly sanctuary (Ps. 148: 2). From this cen-
tral point of the Divine glory, proceed all God's mani-
festations of grace and judgment to the world (Mic.
1: 2, 3; Hab. 2: 20; etc.). In Ps. 89: 5-7 the sons of
God (angels) are called the congregation of the
saints, who are constantly praising the wonders of
Divine grace. Their near relation to God is shown
ver. 7, where they are designated "the council of the
holy ones." The meaning of this passage is, that the
heavenly hosts, as the appointed instruments of exe-
cuting God's judgments, are also to be the iv/V/7esses of
His counsels.
2. They are the /wesse/7^ers o/^oe/, the instrument
of executing His will in grace and in judgment for the
deliverance of His people and the subjugation of His
enemies (Ps. 103: 20, 21; 148: 2). This implies that
God's government is carried on by the means of per-
sonal and living powers. For the purpose of His
kingdom and for the special service of His people,
God has chosen the heavenly spirits, who are the com-
panions of man (Ps. 91: 11; 34: 7). In opposition to
Satan, whose occupation it is to ruin man (Job. 1),
God has thousands of angels whose business it is to
be active in the deliverance of human souls.
3. The hosts of heavenly spirits are also appointed
to be His attendant witnesses, and partially His instru-
ments when He appears in His roj^al and judicial
glory (Deut. 33: 2). In Ps. 68: 17 God is represented
as seated upon His throne on Zion, surrounded by
the chariots or cavalry of the angelic hosts. Lastly,
the heavenly host form Jehovah's retinue at the final
revelation of His judgment. The angels are "the mighty
ones" whom God, according to Joel 3: 11, leads doAvn
into the valley of Jehosaphat; they are "the holy
ones" with whom, according to Zech. 14: 5, He ap-
258 THE THEOLOGY OF PROPHETISM.
pears upon the Mount of Olives in the decisive hour
of the last conflict of the covenant people. Compare
the description of the procession of the heavenly ar-
mies in Rev. 19: 14.
[Analysis: 1) The angels are the higher church; 2) the witnesses
of God's counsels; 3) the messengers of God; 4) active in serving
the saints; 5) the attendant witnesses of God's final revelationat
judgment.]
§ 198. Result with Respect to the Name Jehovah Sabaoth.
In summing up ^'hat has been said, we find, that
the significance of the doctrine of Jehovah Sabaoth
consists in the fact that it teaches us to recognize not
only the supermundane power and glory of the living
God, but also makes Him known to us as interposing,
according to His free and sovereign will, in the affairs
of the world, and therefore not bound to elements or
forces of nature which obey Him ; but as having, on
the contrary, not only these but also the spiritual
powers of the heavenly world at His disposal for the
execution of His will on earth. He is the Omnipotent
Ruler of the Universe. So Ps. 24: 10; Isa 6: 8; 51: 15;
54: 5; etc. The chief passage, however, in this respect,
is Jer. 10: 16 in its connection with Jer. 10: 1—10.
[Analysis: 1) The significance of the doctrine of Jehovah Sabaoth;
2) God is the Omnipotent Ruler of the Universe.]
§ 199. Angels of Higher Order and their Special Office.
The later prophetical books speak of au gels of higher
order and special calling among the heavenly host.
The cherubim are not among these (see § 119). Some
have also regarded the seraphim as merely symbolical
beings, but in Isa. 6, the oiAy passage in which they
occur, ver. 6 rather suggests the ministry of angels ;
though the seraphim here cannot be said entirely to
correspond mth the interpreting angel in Zechariah
and Daniel. The symbolism of their appearance is very
ANGELS OF HIGHER ORDER. 259
simple. With two wings they cover their faces,— to
indicate that even the most exalted spirits cannot
bear the full vision of the Divine glorj ; with two they
cover their feet, — to symbolize their reverence; with
two they ^y, — to express the swiftness with which
they execute the Divine commands. In other respects
they are evidently represented in human form. The
meaning of the word "seraph" is extremely doubtful.
It is perhaps best to connect it Avith the Arabic root
sharupha (to be noble). According to this derivation,
the seraphim would be thus designated as being the
mo si exalted among celestial spirits.
The seven angels mentioned in Ezek. 9 as sent forth
to execute the Divine sentence of extermination upon
idolatrous Jerusalem, next come under consideration.
The number seven is here, as elsewhere in the Old
Testament, the sign that a Divine operation is being
completed,— in this passage the Divine judgment now
advancing to its close. One of these angels is distin-
guished by a high priestly robe of linen, and this
angel of special dignity, no doubt, corresponds to the
horseman who, in the vision of Zech. 1: 8, stands among
the myrtle trees, and is evidently chief over those who
run to and fro through the earth. To him they bring
their report; and he, upon receiving it, intercedes Avith
the Lord of Hosts for Jerusalem. He seems also to
be identical with the angel of the Lord in Zech. 3, be-
fore whom Satan stands to accuse Joshua.
We come now to the angels which appear in Daniel
under the names Gabriel and Michael.
Gabriel (/. e. man of God) is said to be the angel who
explains the visions to Daniel (Dan. 8: 16; 9: 12) thus
answering to the interpreting angel of Zechariah.
It is, however, the Michael of the book of Daniel who
apparently corresponds to the angel of the Lord in
260 THE THEOLOGY OF PROPHETISM.
Zechariah, the horseman among the myrtle trees, who
advocates the cause of the covenant people.
But another appearance in the book of Daniel now
claims our attention. According to Dan. 10, a man,
called neither angel nor prince, appears to Daniel on
the banks of the Tigris. It is the same person who at
Ulai (Dan. 8: 15-17), commands Gabriel to interpret
to Daniel the vision he had received,— the same who,
in Dan. 12: 7, guarantees b^^ a solemn oath the ful-
fillment of the Divine counsel. It is obvious that this
appearance must be identified with Him who (Dan. 7:
13; 10: 18) comes as a sen of man in the clouds of
heaven to receive dominion over all nations, /. e. the
Mess/ah (compare the description of the glorified Christ
in Rev. 1: 13-15 with Dan. 10: 5, 6).
We find then already in the Old Testament the doc-
trine, further developed in the New, that the dispensa-
tions and judgments of God upon earth are closely
connected Avith corresponding events in the higher
world of spirits.
[Analysis: 1) The Seraphim; 2) their symbolisin; 3) meaning of
"seraph"; 4) the seven angels of Ezek. 9; 5) Gabriel; 6) Michael; 7)
the appearance recorded in Dan. 10; 8) summary.]
§ 200. The Doctrine of Satan.
Among the sons of God (angels) who appear before
Jehovah, we meet in certain passages of the Old
Testament (Job, Chronicles, Zechariah), with an angel
called Satan, of crafty and hostile disposition toward
the covenant people and all who fear God, seeking to
deprive them of the favor of God, but only suffered to
act as His instrument. The word Satan means an
enemy, an adversary.
If we compare the two parallel passages 2 Sam. 24:
1 and 1 Chron. 21: 1, we learn that what is by the
older record (2 Sam. 24: 1) directly referred to Divine
THE DOCTRINE OF SATAN. 2G1
agency, is by the later account attributed to a hostile
spirit. We here meet again with the same fact which
we encountered in the doctrine of the angels, viz., that
the later record brings into greater prominence those
powers Avhich are Instruments of the Divine Providence.
Other passages also point to such powers appointed
by God to be instruments of the Divine wrath (1 Sam.
16: 14-23; Isa. 19: 14; Ps. 75: 8). The transition
hence to the doctrine of Satan is made by the passage
1 Kings 22: 19-23. Satan though absolutely depend-
ent on the Divine will with regard to what he effects,
acts from a disposition hostile to man. This is hinted
(1 Chron. 21: 1) in the standing up of Satan against
Israel, and still more prominently brought forward in
the prologue to Job. It is true that in Job Satan
appears in the midst of the sons of God (angels); but
he comes from a wandering excursion over the earth,
which he has evidently undertaken from hostility to
men ; he hopes, too, that Job's piety will not endure
temptation, and that he will thus cease to be an object
of the Divine complacency. That he may bring calam-
ity upon Job, the Lord allows Satan the free disposal
not only of the elements,— the tempest, and the fire of
heaven,— but also of human beings (the nomadic
hordes), and at length he is permitted to smite Job
with a most terrible disease. But he is obliged to ob-
tain from God the power of effecting all this ; and the
limit to the injury he is allowed to inflict is set by the
themllof God(Job. 2:6).
Of special significance, however, is the position of
Satan with respect to the covenant people. This is
shown with particular clearness in the vision of Zech.
3: 1-10, while it is also briefly alluded to in 1 Chron.
21: 1. In the vision of Zechariah, Joshua, the high
priest, is the representative of the people. He is ac-
262 THE THEODOGY, OF PROPHETISM.
cused before the Lord, not on account of his own sins
as an individual, but in his capacity of high priest.
His priestly garments are defiled. Satan affirms that
for this sinful people there is no valid mediation be-
fore God. " But the Lord causes the high priest to be
clothed in clean garments, thus acknowledging the
validity of the high-priestl}^ mediation, though with
an intimation (Zech. 3:8) that the perfect atonement
for the people is to be effected only by the Messiah.
Thus the work of Satan is to question the forgiveness,
the justification of the church, in which sense he is
called "the accuser of our brethren" (Rev. 12: 10).
With respect also to his agency among men, Satan,
who desires to destroy the souls ofmen (Job 1), forms
a contrast to the "interpreting angel" (Job 33: 23),
whose occupation it is to excite men to repentance
and confession of sin, that their souls might be res-
cued from destruction.
The Satan of the Old Testament is not as yet re-
vealed as the "prince of the world" (John 16: 11) as
in the New Testament, which discloses "the deep
things of Satan" (Rev. 2: 24) only along with the
completion of revelation.
Of other evil angels nothing is distinctly taught in
the Old Testament. By Azazel (Lev. 16) we must
probably understand an evil spiritual power whom we
may, with Hengstenberg, connect mth the Satan of
the later books (see § 140). It is true that "the de-
stroyers" of Job 33: 22, who are contrasted with the
"interpreting angels" of v. 23, must probably be re-
ferred to angels, but it is not so much the nature of
these angels, as the Divine commission which makes
them destroyers. It is only the later Jewish theology
which presents us with a fully developed demonology .
THE DOCTRIiNE OF SATAN. 263
[Analysis: 1) The teaching concerniug Satan; 2) explanation of
2 Sam. 24: 1; 3) evil angels are instruments of Divine wrath; 4)
Satan acts from a disposition hostile to man; 5) illustrated in the
book of Job; 6) Satan's position with reference to Israel, 7) the
vision of Zech. 3: 1 — 10; 8) he is our accuser; 9) his nature only
clearly revealed in the N. T.; 10) Azazel; 11) the demonology of
later Jewish theology.]
CHAPTEE YIII.
§ 201. Distinction between the Ceremonial and the Moral
Law.
The ceremonial and moral precepts are in the Mosaic
law co-ordinate. The result of the tuition of the law
which advances from the outer to the inner, is that
prophecy carries out the distinction between the cere-
monial and the moral law, and emphaticall}^ declares
that the performance of the eternal ordinances of
the law, and especially the offering of sacrifice, were,
as merely outward acts, worthless ; that the will of
God aimed at the sanctification of the heart and the
surrender of the will to God ; and that the observance
of the ceremonial law had no value except as the ex-
press/on of a godly disposition. This thought forms the
theme of many prophetic addresses (Hos. 6: 6; Amos
5: 21-26; Isa. 1: 11-17; Jer. 7: 21-26; Micah 6; 6-8;
etc.).
There are those, however, who maintain that Eze-
kiel, Daniel, and Malachi, insist upon the observance
of the ceremonial law. Ezekiel does indeed set a high
value upon the external ordinances of the Mosaic law,
but this is in keeping with the priest /y character of this
prophet. He does indeed describe at great length, in
that famous vision recorded in Ezek. 40-48, the re-
storation of the Levitical ritual upon a magnificent
scale in the coming times of redemption, but his very
predictions of therestoration of Israel as the covenant
people, show that he does not regard sanctification
THE KUINOUS NATUItE OF SIN. 265
as consisting in the mere externalism of the Levitical
ritual.
So likewise the attempt to show that the Book of
Daniel is opposed to the older prophetical books by
its commendation of a legal externalism, is equally
vain. Some pretend to see a sign of the externalism of
Daniel's religion, in that, accordingto 6: 10, he prayed
three times daily, a custom, however, alluded to as
early as Ps. 55: 17. How far the Book of Daniel is
from commending a righteousness of dead works, is
best seen by the thoroughly penitential prayer in 9:
4-19.
It is true also that Malachi sternly rebukes trans-
gressions in the matter of Divine worship, the offering
of bad or defective sacrifices (1: 6-2: 9), the fraudulent
withholding of the temple dues (3: 7-12), but he does
so because the worldly and godless disposition of
priests and people was manifested by such actions.
[Analysis: 1) Distinction between ceremonial and moral law; 2)
when the ceremonial law had value; 3) the prophets lay stress
upon the godly disposition; 4) Ezekiel is no exception; 5) nor does
the Book of Daniel commend legal externalism; 6) much less Ma-
lachi.]
§ 202. The Ruinous Nature of Sin.
In proportion as a consciousness of the inw^ardness
of the law's requirements is arrived at, will the con-
viction of sin become profound. Prophecy, by bringing
into greater prominence the opposition in which the
people stand to the electing and sanctifying purpose
of their God, carries on the office of the law, and ad-
vances to the perception that the sanctificationofthe
people at which the law aims, is unattainable during
the present legal dispensation, and must, on the con-
trary, be effected by a dispensation of grace.
The tuition of the law, effecting a conviction of sin.
266 THE THEOLOGY OF PROPHETISM.
advances but gradually. We cannot expect at once
to find in the Old Testament such a knowlege of sin,
as is expressed in Eom. 7. But David already ex-
pressed the acknowledgment that a Divine imparta-
tion of life, a transformation of heart, was needed if
the inward state w^as to be conformed to the Divine
will (Ps. 51: 10-12; 143: 10).
To render evident that relation of electing and
sanctifying love into which God has entered with His
people, the prophets employ the figure of fatherhood
and sonship (see §82). J^llt the bridal and conjugal rela-
tion is far more frequently used by them, as the sym-
bol of the communion into which God has entered
with His people, (Hosea, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel).
The nation now appears as a harlot, an adulteress.
Sin is no longer mere disobedience to the commands
of God, but is viewed as being in its inward and essen-
tial nature a breach of faith, as base ingratitude to-
ward Him who has first loved. All boasting of human
righteousness vanishes, and an overwhelming feeling
of guilt is expressed in many prophetic discourses.
It is, first of all, a common guilt resting upon the nation,
making the nation as such, the object of Divine wrath.
From this general sinfulness, even the more religious
part of the nation, the servants of God, are not so
exempt as to be contrasted as absolutely righteous.
The conviction thus forces itself on the mind that a
new dispensation of grace is needed; in other words, that
God must of His own free grace blot out transgression
and effect by a new communication of life that con-
formity to His will which the laAv demands. The chief
passages in which this is expressed are found in Jere-
miah (24: 7; 31: 31-34) and Ezekiel (36: 25-29; 37:
23-27).
The fundamental assumption in this new dispensa-
THE OLD TESTAMENT FORM OF FAITH. 267
tion is, as the X3assage from Jeremiah expresses at its
close, the aboUtion of the old condemnation by Divine
mercy; that God, as the prophet Micah says (7: 19)
would of His mercy tread the iniquities of His people
under foot, and cast all their sins into the depths of
the sea.
It is through the pardon of sin that occasion is af-
forded for the agency of those purifying and sancti-
fying forces which God puts forth (Ezek. 36: 25-27).
[Analysis: 1) The office of the law; 2) makes slow progress; 3)
symbols used by the prophets to describe the relation of Israel to
God; 4) a common guilt rests upon the nation; .5) none are ex-
empt; 6) a new dispensation of grace is needed; 7) the chief pas-
sages; 8) the fundamental principle of the new dispensation; 9)
the pardon of sin.]
§ 203. The Old Testament Form of Faith.
Meanwhile the just walked in faith and had life
therein. The leading of Israel, from the time of its
deliverance out of Egypt, rests entirely on faith (Deut.
1: 32; 9: 23).
What then is this faith ? Negatively, it is a ceasing
from all natural confidence in one's own strength and
power, a renunciation of all trust in human support
and assistance ( Jer. 17: 5). Positively, it is a fastening
of the heart upon the Divine word of promise, a lean-
ing upon the power and faithfulness of God (Ps. 112:
7, 8). On its /7 e^raf/Ve side, whereby faith renounces
self-chosen human ways, it is a resting in, a quiet
waiting for God (Isa. 28: 16; 30: 15; Ps. 62: 6). On
its positive side, it is a sanctifying of the Lord (Isa. 8:
13), a giving of glory to His sole sovereignty (Jer.
13:16;Hab. 2:4).
In its expectation of the fulfilment of the Divine
promise, the faith of the Old Testament turns to the
future. It includes patience and hope (Isa. 25: 9; Ps.
42: 5). It is according to this specially Old Testament
268 THE THEOLOGY OF PROPHETISM.
form that faith is illustrated by Old Testament ex-
amples in Heb. 11. But the Old Testament also ex-
hibits faith as including negatively that renunciation
of one's own claims and merits before God which arises
from a conviction of sin, and positively, that surrender
to the sin-annulling God and His atoning grace which
are essential to the saving faith of the new cove-
nant. In Ps. 130: 3-5 faith appears as a waiting upon
the word which proclaims forgiveness of sins; but here,
too, its eye is directed to the future. It is, however,
in Isa. 40-66 that this faith is especially enforced.
[Analysis: 1) The whole history of Israel an illustration of faith;
2) the negative and positive aspects of faith ; 3) the special form
of O. T. faith; 4) illustrated in Heb. 11; 5) faith as described in
Ps. 130: 3—5; 6) as enforced by Isaiah.]
§ 204. The Old Testament Experience of Salvation.
Was there already in Old Testament times the ex-
perience of justification and adoption in the New
Testament sense of these terms? The question is
whether, besides the pardon which was obtained for
sins of infirmity by confession and sacrifice (Lev. 5:
10), there was also pardon for presumptuous sins,
which could not be atoned for by sacrifice,— and there-
fore a justification of the whole man. We answer, the
Old Testament certainly teaches that Divine forgive-
ness is imparted to the sinner who turns in penitence
and faith to God ; and that this is not a mere ignoring
of sin (Ps. 130: 4). To this subject belongs the whole
of Ps. 32.
This experience of Salvation , however, still remains
but relative, and decidedly differs from that of the
New Testament. 1) It indeed affords peace of mind
concerning individual sins, but it does not establish
any permanent state of reconciliation. No such atoning
grace and justification were imparted to the believer
THE OLD TESTAMENT EXPERIENCE OF SALVATION. 2G0
under the Old Testament as to enable him to say with
the apostle: "The old things are passed away ; be-
hold, they are become new" (2 Cor. 5: 17). He was
pacified concerning the past, but only to begin again
seeking to be henceforth just through the works of the
law. 2) Under the Old Testament, conversion was in-
deed reached as a moral change, but not regeneration
as a new creation. 3) The Divine Spirit did not make
in the Old Testament saints a new foundation of life,
—did not as yet work outward from within, as the
transforming principle of the whole man.
The highest communion between God and man,
estabhshed by prophecy, does not attain to the emi-
nence of that filial state inaugurated by the New
Testament; for which reason Christ delares the great-
est of the prophets to be less than the least in His
kingdom (Matt. 11: 11).
[Analysis: 1) The teaching of the 0. T, concerning forgiveness of
sins; 2) sins of infirmity v^ere forgiven; 3) asv^'ellaspresnmptuous
sins ; 4) the experience of salvation in the 0. T. differs, however,
in three things from that of the N. T; 5) it knows notMngof the
filial state of the believer in Christ.]
SECTION Ml.
OP PROPHECY.
CHAPTER IX.
THE PROPHETIC CONSCIOUSNESS.
§ 205. Negative Propositions.
That which made the prophet a prophet was not
his natural gifts, nor his own intention, and that
which he proclaimed as the prophetic word was not
the mere result of instruction received, nor the pro-
duction of his own reflection. However true it may
be that a certain learned education was given in the
so-called schools of the prophets, and while it is cer-
tain that the prophets were themselves assiduous
students of the law and the history of Israel, as well as
of the older prophecies, still the prophet differs essen-
tially from the later scribes and Rabbins. The prophets
strictly distinguished between the word of Jehovah
and their own views and desires. Very instructive in
this respect is the Book of Habakkuk.
[Analysis: 1) The prophet diifers from the later scribe; 2) they
distinguish between their "views and the prophetic word; 3) Ha-
bakkuk, a good illustration.]
§ 206. Positive Propositions.
The prophet, as such, knows himself to be the organ
of Divine revelation, in virtue both of a Divine voca-
tion, capable of being known by him as such, and
which came to him with irresistible power, and also of
his endowment with the enlightening, sanctifying, and
POSITIVE PROPOSITIONS. 271
strengthening Spirit of God. Accordingly, a prophet
knows the objective reality, as the Word of God, of
that word which he proclaims.
1) The overwhelming constraint of the Divine call
is described by Amos in the discourse in Avhich he vin-
dicates his projjhetic work (Amos 3:8). ha/ah (chap.
6) and Ezekiel (chap. 1) refer their call to visions, in
which the glory of the Lord was manifested to them.
But the book of Jeremiah furnishes the most abundant
proofs of the certainty the prophets felt concerning
their Divine vocation (Jer. 20: 7, 8; 17: 16). It was
in virtue of the assurance that the call he had received
was from God, that he condemned the pretensions of
false prophets (chap. 23 and 28; see also 29: 24-32).
2) The medium of the revelation, is, however, more
particularly said to be the Spirit of God, through
whom it is that the Lord sends His word by means of
the prophets (Zech. 7: 12). This Spirit proves itself
to be Divine, a) by disclosing to the prophets such
knowledge as could come from God alone. To lay all
possible stress upon the objectivity of this word, its
communication is designated as a giving (Ezek. 2:8;
3: 3), a putting into the mouth of the prophet (Dent.
18: 18; Jer. 1: 9; etc.). b) But still more does the
Spirit show itself to be of God to the true prophet
upon whom it comes, and whom it fits for his office,
by its sanctifying and strengthening agency (Micah
3:8).
3) It is in virtue of such spiritual experience that
the prophet knows that the word put into his mouth
will also prove itself to bear within it the power of the
living God (Jer. 23: 28, 29; Isa. 55: 11). Hence the
prophet, as the announcer of this word, is also the
performer of Divine acts (Jer. 1: 10).
272 OF PROPHECY,
[Analysis: 1) The prophet knows himself as such; 2) and knows
that he has the Word of God; 3) the prophets testify to their Di-
vine call ; 4) they have the Spirit of God ; 5) this proves itself di-
vine in a two-fold manner; 6) the prophet performs divine acts.]
§ 207. Psychological Definition of the Prophetic State in
Ancient Times.
How then is the prophetic state to be psycholog-
ically and more precisely defined? On this subject
various opinions were held in ancient times.
At the time that the Septuagint was translated, the
Greek word mantis designated the ecsfaf/c utterer of an
oracle, and prophetes the sober-minded interpreter of
the oracle of the former. When, then, the Old Testa-
ment IVabhi is designated in the LXX b}^ the name of
proptietes (prophet), he may be said to be chiefly char-
acterized not as a predicter (a meaning belonging in-
deed also to propheies), but as one who declares what
the Divine Spirit has imparted to him, to which func-
tion it is essential that it should be consciously and
intelligently performed.
According to Piiilo, the prophet is the interpreter of
God, who makes him inwardlj^ perceive what he is to
speak. This Divine inspiration is received by the
prophet in a state of ecstacy, which is said indeed to
be distinctly different from the frenzy of madness, but
in which self-consciousness is nevertheless entirely
suspended. Philo, hoAvever, recognizes no specific dif-
ference between prophecy and the divine illumination
imparted to every sage. In both the same Spirit is
working.
Philo's view of the ecstatic character of the prophetic
state passed over to the earliest Church Fathers.
Athenagoras says that the Divine Spirit that moved
the prophets used them as a flute-pla^^er does his in-
strument. This subject was not discussed more
IN THE OLDER PROTESTANT THEOLOGY. 278
thoroughly until it became, as Tertullian intimates,
a matter of dispute between the Montanists and the
Catholic Church Fathers. The latter disgusted with
ecstasy as presented to them by the Montanist proph-
ets, declared all convulsions which repressed ra-
tional consciousness unworthy of true prophecy, and
only fit for the manticism produced by demoniacal
powers. So, in general, Origen (d. 254), Epiphanius
((/. 403), Chrysostom [d. 407) and Jerome (</. 420).
Still the polemics of the Fathers as Tholuck justly re-
marks, do not deny the existence of every kind of
ecstasy in the case of the organs of revelation. They
could not thus set themselves in opposition to the
clear statements of Holy Scripture. They regard the
prophetic state as extraordinary and temporary.
Frail human nature could not endure an uninter-
rupted state of revelation. In this respect we discern
an essential difference between the prophets and Christ,
in whom the Spirit abode permanently.
[Analysis: 1) The prophetic state was variously understood in
ancient times; 2) the view of the translators of the Greek Bible; 3)
of Philo; 4) of the earliest Church Fathers; 5) the prophetic state
is extraordinary and temporary.]
§ 208. View of this Subject in the Older Protestant The-
ology.
The propositions laid down by the Fathers, in op-
position to the Montanists, were repeated by the older
Protestant theologians. The prevailing theory of in-
spiration being applied to prophecy, the Protestant
theologians assumed, in the case of prophets, both an
entire passivity in the reception of revelation, and a
continued state of rational consciousness, with at
most but momentary intermissions.
In proportion, however, as the orthodox notion
of inspiration became unsettled, more influence over
274 OF PROPHECY.
the form of their predictions was of course conceded
to the subjectivity of the prophets. Crusius^ made a
thorough investigation of this subject. He chiefly in-
sists upon the distinction between the matter of reve-
lation and the form under which it is presented. With
respect to the form he admits the intervention of the
free agency of the organs of revelation, which makes
them not passive but active instruments of God. With
respect to the inspiration of the matter, Crusius dis-
tinguishes between revelation in the narrower sense, which
produces new knowledge in man, either hj a creative
act or by a transformation of the knowledge already
existing, and illumination which excites and strengthens
the knowledge already existing. The distinction be-
tween apostolic and prophetic inspiration is also
brought out b^^ Crusius. The inspiration of the apos-
tles was uninterrupted, and, depending on the con-
tinued operation of Christ and of the Holy Spirit in .
them, made them more like Christ. The repeated use
of the formula, "Thus saith the Lord," b}^ the proph-
ets, shows that the state of inspiration was in their
case an extraordinary one. Still even in Crusius, we
meet with no exact psychological analysis of the
prophetic state.
Kationalistic theology, which at best, always has
seen in the prophets only so mau}^ rationalists, made
no inquiry into the nature of the prophetic state. The
visions which the prophets affirmed themselves to
have beheld, are either attributed in a general manner
to the poetic garb in which they spontaneously
clothed prophetic truths, or, if recognized in a certain
sense as facts, are referred to a state of violent men-
tal excitement. Prophecy in its strictest significa-
tion is regarded as out of the question.
1 In his Hypomnemata ad theologiam propheticam, 1764.
THE INDIVIDUAL LIFE. 275
This whole subject received, however, a powerful
impetus, when Hengstenberg (in the first edition of his
Christology) revived in all its rigid one-sidedness the
Montanist theory of prophecy. For he laid down the
proposition that the prophets, when recipients of rev-
elation, were in an extraordinary condition, essen-
tially differing from their usual state— in an ecstasy,
in which the intelligent consciousness retreated, and
the spontaneity, being suppressed by a powerful
operation of the Divine Spirit, was reduced to a state
of passivity. (In the second edition of his Christo/ogy,
Hengstenberg has essentially modified this earlier
view).
[Analysis: 1) The view of the older Protestant theologians ; 2)
the views of Crusius ; 3) he distinguishes between the matter and
the form of revelatidn ; 4) between revelation and illumination;
5) between apostolic and prophetic inspiration ; 6) the view ra-
tionalistic theology always has taken; 7) the earlier view of
Hengstenberg.]
§ 209. Continuity and Elevation of the Individual Life in
the Prophetic State.
In the earlier view maintained by Hengstenberg, truth
and error are blended. It is true that in prophecy
states do occur in which the individual life is subjuga-
ted by the power of the Divine Spirit, but it is not true
that these coincide with the state of prophetic revela-
tion, nay, they are not even essential thereto.
Isaiah, in his initiatory vision (Isa. 6), is conscious
that his iniquity is taken away and his sin purged,
and declares himself ready in consequence to under-
take the Divine commission. Jeremiah, too, in his
inaugural vision (Jer. 1), was conscious of his weak-
ness. It is true that Ezekiel, when he received the
vision fell down overpowered b}^ the sight (Ezek. 1:
28), but in order to receive the revelation he had to
276 OF PROPHECY.
stand up again, and that in the power of the Spirit
who entered into him (Ezek. 2: 1, 2j; and he then, evi-
dently with complete consciousness, received the Di-
vine word. It is true also that Daniel sank down
stunned in consequence of a vision (Dan. 10: .8-10),
but he did not receive the revelation till he had re-
covered himself. Besides the prophets felt themselves
inwardly elevated (Isa. 8: 11, 12; Jer. 1: 19; etc.). In
thus showing that the individual life is not obliterated
but enhanced in the prophetic state, we have still left
to answer the question, what the ps^- chical form of
prophecy properly is.
[Analysis: 1) The truth of Hengstenberg's view; 2) its error; 3)
the prophets received revelation with complete consciousness; 4)
the question to be answered].
§ 210. Prophecy an Inward Intuition.
Undoubtedly the prophets were often in a state of
excited feeling at the times when they uttered their
predictions, and did not, as merely mechanical instru-
ments of the inspiring Spirit, comport themselves in
an utterly indifferent manner with respect to their
prophecies. But that in such cases the frame of mind
w^as of secondary importance, that is, was produced by
the objective influence of the Divine Spirit, is evident
especially from the circumstance that the feeling
natural to the prophet was frequently exchanged for
just its opposite. Compare the prophecy concerning
Moab (Isa. 16: 9-11), and that concerning Bab\don
(Isa. 21: 1-10), where this state of mind is very dis-
tinctly portrayed.
The psychical form of prophec}^ is rather that of an
inward intuition, taking the word in its wider significa-
tion. It belongs to this intuition that the prophet is
^ware that the matter of revelation is directly given.
PROPHECY AN IXWAKD INTUITIOiN. 277
and not produced by his own agency; and this is just
what the prophets affirm with respect to tlieir prophe-
cies. Hence the prophets designate themselves as
seers. Sometimes this inward perception oftheprox)h-
ets is also styled a hearing (Isa. 21: 10; etc.). The
prophets, however, chiefly choose the expression to
see, even when it is a mere form of speech, for the
manner in which they became directly conscious of
the God-given matter (Amos 1: 1; Isa. 2: 1; Hab.
2:1).
What now the prophet perceives is aword of Jehovah,
an oracle o/'t/e^oi^aA (which latter expression represents
the mysterious nature of the inwardly perceived Di-
vine voice), a massa (a lofty or eminent saying, ac-
cording to Oehler ; a burden, according to Hengsten-
berg). When, however, the image awakened hj the
revelation appears in a plastic form before the mind
of the prophet, a m/o/? in the stricter sense takes place,
and this is of a symbolical character, the matter of the
prophecy being reflected in the imagination of the
prophet. With respect to visional symbolism, there is a
remarkable difference between individual prophets.
In some, especially the more ancient, it is simple, and
therefore for the most part easily understood, e. g.
the visions of Amos, the devouring locusts and the
consuming fire as images of the Divine judgments
(Amos 7: 1-6), the plumb-line laid to thewall as sym-
bolical of the dealings of the Divine justice (Amos 7:
7-9), the basket of ripe fruit as an image of the nation
ripe for judgment (Amos 8: 1, 2). In Ezekiel, Zecha-
riah, and Daniel, on the contrary, the symbolism is
more complicated and cases occur in which the
prophet himself does not understand the images he
beholds, and requests an explanation of them (Zech.
4: 4; Dan. 8:15). The prophets are, moreover, fre-
278 OF PROPHECY.
quently required to express the substance of the Di-
vine messages by symbohcal actions. In many of these
cases, however (especiall}^ in Ezekiel), it may be ques-
tioned whether the action really took place externall}^
as e. g. in Isa. 20: 2, or whether it belongs merely to
vision. There is scarcely a point in prophetic the-
ology concerning which theologians so greatly differ.
No general principle can be laid down by w^hich to de-
termine how far such actions pertain to the province
of the external or the internal.
[Analysis: 1) The prophets often were highly moved; 2) but the
frame of mind was of secondary importance; 3) there was an in-
ward intuition; 4) they describe themselves as seeing ; 5) what the
prophet sees; 6) a vision has a symbolical character; 7) how to
interpret symbolical actions.]
§ 211. The Prophetic State Illustrated by Analogies.
If w^e seek from analogous occurrences in the ordinary
life of the human spirit to cast some light on the
nature of prophetic sight, the first which seems to
offer itself for comparison is the vivid dream.
Although the Old Testament does not exclude the
dream as a medium of revelation, nevertheless a sub-
ordinate importance is attributed to dreams. Al-
though sleep, by reason of its withdrawal of a man
from the external w^orld, seems specially favorable for
the intercourse of the Divine with the human spirit ;
still, on the other hand, a man in this condition is not
duly capable o/<//s///75rt//sA//75r between what proceeds from
his own heart and Divine inspiration. The Divine
Word must come to the prophets in such a manner as
to leave them in no kind of doubt that it is such.
In far the greater number of cases we must evident-
ly conceive of the state in which the prophet receives
a revelation as merely one of profound self-intro-
version and collectedness of mind in a state of perfect
THE CONCEPTIONS OF GENIUS. 279
wakefulness. This prophetic state is most nearly re-
lated to communion with God in prayer. But the Divine
Word which reached the prophet was by no means
produced from the matter of the prophet's own mind
whether viewed ethically or intellectually. ''A man
can receive nothing except it have been given him from
heaven" (John 3: 27), is the testimony of the great-
est of the prophets.
[Analysis: 1) The analogy of a dream; 2) of communion with
God in prayer; 3) but these analogies are misleading.]
§ 212. The Conceptions of Genius and the Natural Powers
of Divination.
In explaining Old Testament prophecy, the attempt
has often been made to refer it to prophetic powers
inherent in the human mind, and manifesting them-
selves in the conceptions of genius, whether of the
poet, the artist, or the hero. In particular has a di-
vining power, inherent in the human mind, and produ-
cing actual prophecy outside the province of scriptural
revelation, been spoken of. The Old Testament does
indeed refer all intellectual endowment to Divine spirit-
ual influence on the mind, but thsit persona/ and fami/iar
relation in which the prophet stands to God, and in
which God discloses to him secret things (^'for he re-
vealeth His secret unto His servants the prophets,"
Amos 3: 7), stands out as something s/^ec/^c amid
these general spiritual influences. With regard to so-
called natural divination, the aspect in which this
may most allow^ably be compared mth scriptural
prophecy is, that it is the prophecy of conscience.
But does this natural divination know anything
positively respecting the purpose of God's ways upon
earth? The prophets of the Old Testament knew that
the Spirit by which they were inspired w^as not the
280 OF PROPHECY.
natural spirit of their^ nation ; that thoir predictions
were not the expression of popular expectations,—
they knew that the thoughts of God, of which the}'
were the interpreters, were as high above the thoughts
of man as heaven is higher than earth (Isa. 55: 8, 9),
The matter of revelation is not, stricth^ speaking,
the mental property of the prophets, but continues to
be a thing imparted. Hence its meaning was not fully
grasped by their understanding, but was, as St. Peter
tells us (1 Pet. 1: 10), a matter of investigation to
themselves.
The importance of the propositions thus far devel-
oped mil more clearly appear in the discussion of the
nature of prophecy, to which we now proceed.
[Analysis: 1) The prophetic powers are not inherent in the hu-
man mind; 2) the 0. T. knows nothing of a natural prophetic in-
sight; 3) the prophecy of conscience: 4) the matter of revelation
is a thing imparted ; 5) importance of this preliminary discussion.]
CHAPTER X.
OF PROPHECY.
§ 213. The Office of Prophecy In General.
If we regard the collective contents of the prophetic
books of the Old Testament, we must say that proph-
ecy is employed entirely in promoting the interest of
the Kingdom of God, and that its main office is to un-
fold its wa3^s. Prophecy was designed to educate the
nation to a perception of what kind of knowledge of
the future could alone be a blessing to man, by open-
ing its eyes to the holy government of God in history
and to the aims of Divine providence, that thus it
might learn to prepare for coming judgment.
§ 214. The Prediction of Particular Events an Essential
Element of Prophecy.
According to the theory of some, the sole essential
feature of Prophecy is declared to be its expression of
the general ideas of the Divine government, while its
prediction of particular events is, on the other hand,
to be regarded as comparatively unessential and sub-
ordinate ; nay, the very admissibility of prediction is
denied by the rationalistic party, on the ground of its
destroying huma,n freedom and interfering with his-
tory.
The questrbn which concerns us here is whether
prophecy does or does not attribute to itself as essen-
tial the characteristic of predicting particular events?
In answer it is sufficient to bring forward, besides the
282 OF PROPHECY.
fundamental passage Deut. 18: 22, the very decided
expressions contained on this subject in Isa. 40 and
following chapters. Here we find the greatest empha-
sis laid upon the circumstances that the deliverance
of Israel from the Babylonian captivity had been long
predicted by prophecy, and that the prophet now
speaking foretells the appearance of C}t:'us before it
takes place. It maintains also that the prediction of
such particular events is a proof that the God of Is-
rael is the true God, w^hile on the otherhand it asserts
that the vanity of the heathen gods is manifested by
their inability to foretell anything (Isa. 41: 21-28;
42: 9). In this last passage, "neAv things do I declare:
before they spring forth I tell you of them" (42: 9),
the idea of pure prediction could hardly be more pre-
cisely expressed (compare also Isa. 43: 9-13; 44: 25-
28; 45: 21).
[Analysis: 1) The theory held by some; 2) prediction is an essen-
tial element of prophecy; 3) the teaching of Deut. 18: 22; 4) of
Isaiah.]
§ 215. The Peculiarities of Old Testament Prophecy.
The matter of revelation being given to the proph-
ets in the form of intuition, the future appeared to
them as immediately present, complete, or at all
events in progress. Hoay great soever the distance,
according to human computation, of the things pre-
dicted, they are actuall}^ in train to the prophetic eye,
and all that intervenes can only help to hasten their
fulfilment (Hab. 2: 3). What the prophet sees are
simply "the things which must shortly come to pass"
(Rev. 1: 1); for in the invisible world which is disclosed
to the prophet, all is active, in motion, about to
approach.
Connected with this peculiarity of prophecy is the
OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECY. 283
circumstance that it gives for the most part only a
subordinated importance to dates. Sometimes the
dates given have evidently a symbolical meaning, and
must not for this reason be pressed to the very letter.
In general, the word of the Lord, ''It is not for you to
know times or seasons, which the Father hath set
Avithin His own authority" (Acts 1: 7), applies also to
the prophets, who limit themselves to indefinite dates,
such as "in that day", ''after this", etc. The group-
ing of that which is predicted according to the neces-
sary sequences of its essential elements takes the place
of chronological statements. The Old Testament
prophecy is always directed to the consummation of
the Kingdom of God, and announces the ways in which
God conducts His purpose of salvation, from the act-
ual present to its appointed end. In other words,
Avhat takes place "at the end of the days," /. e. at the
close of this dispensation, forms the boundary of the
prophetic horizon. This "end", in prophetic diction
is the time of the consummation of redemption (Hos.
3: 5; Jer. 48: 47; Ezek. 38: 16). The event next pre-
ceding this "end" is judgment, and indeed judgment
both upon the rebelhous people of God and the sinful
world. Thus the matter of prophecy may be defined
by its threeelements,— 5^4////, yW^r/we/?/, (first upon -the
house of God, then upon the world), redemption. The
progress of the kingdom of God forms itself in proph-
etic vision, into a picture in which judgment generally
forms the foreground and redemption the background .
Thus prophecy beholds in every event the coming of
the Judge and Saviour of the world to set up His
kingdom. In this combination of the nearer and more
distant future, lies what has been called thepersyoec^/Ve
character of prophecy. Bengel aptly designates
284 OF PROPHECY.
this characteristic when in his Gnomon on Matt. 24:
29, he says: "A prophecy resembles a landscape
painting, which marks distinctly the houses, paths,
and bridges in the fore-ground, but brings together,
into a narrow space, the distant valleys and moun-
tains, though they are reall}^ far apart." This char-
acteristic of prophecy is manifested with especial beau-
ty in the Book of Isaiah (40—66). To the prophets
themselves, moreover, the time when their predictions
should be fulfilled was, as we are told, a subject of in-
vestigation (1 Pet. 1: 11).
The fact that the matter of prophecy is given in the
form of such an intuition, also furnishes the reason
why it always sees the realization of that matter in
particular events which are complete in themselves.
In the fulfilment, on the contrary, that which is but
momentary in the prophetic intuition is accomplished
by a process qf long and gradual development ; and
when a prediction attains its first stage of fulfilment,
there opens out from the standpoint of subsequent
prophets, a new perspective toward the consumma-
tion of judgment and redemption. Hence it is that
many expositors speak of a two, a three, or even a
fourfold fulfilment.
[Analysis: 1) To the prophet the future appears immediately
present; 2) all is in motion, about to happen; 3) no great stress
is laid on dates; 4) what takes the place of chronological state-
ments; 5) 0. T. prophecy alwaj^s directed to the final consumma-
tion; 6) what is meant by this end; 7) that which precedes the
end; 8) the three elements of the matter of prophecy ; 9) the per-
spective character of prophecy; 10) illustrated by Isa. 40-66; 11)
prophecy always sees its realization in single, complete events;
12) the fulfilment may take place by stages.]
§ 216. Prophecy and Fulfilment.
Since the matter of prophecy presents itself to view
as a multitude of individual facts, it may sometimes
PROPHECY AND FULFILMENT. 285
appear as though single predictions contradicted each
other, when they are in fact only those parts into
which the ideas revealed have been separated, mutu-
ally completing each other. Thus the representation
of the Messiah is at one time that of a general Prince
of Peace, at another that of a powerful and warlike
hero who overthrows his enemies ; on the one side a
successful ruler, on the other the servant of God who
atones for the sins of the people by undergoing death.
The internal harmony of the two views— that Christ
is our peace and at the same time one who has come
to send a sword, that the kingdom of God is at once
a contending and a peaceful kingdom— is first found
in the New Testament.
The matter of prophecy being given to the prophets
in the form of intuition, it is brought down, so far as
its form is concerned, to the plane of the beholder him-
self ; hence prophecy is affected by the limits of the
sphere of Old Testament life, the special relations of
the age, and the individual peculiarity of the prophet.
The future kingdom of God is beheld by the prophets
as being in all essential matters an extended and glori-
fied form of the Old Testament theocracy. The admis-
sion of the nations into this kingdom is their traveling
to Mount Zion (Isa. 2), etc. One ma}^ often feel, when
reading the prophetic word, how much further the
spiritual meaning reaches than the letter expresses ;
how prophecy struggles, as it were, to give its thoughts
an adequate embodiment. Compare such descriptions
as Zech. 2 and similar passages. In virtue of the or-
ganic connection existing between the two Testaments,
revelation brings forth in the New Testament, circum-
stances, conditions and facts, which are analogous,
even with respect to their external form, to their pre-
286 OF PROPHECY.
representation in the Old. And this is to say that the
Old Testament form with which the matter of proph-
ecy is covered, is iypical of the form of the New Testa-
ment fulfilment, and that the coincidence of the two
may extend to individual features. This we sec in the
prophetic delineation (Isa. 53) of the Servant of the
Lord atoninjv b}^ His death for the sins of the people,
and afterward glorified. For this reason it would ill
become an expositor to attempt to determine .before-
hand how far the last form of the kingdom of God is
to coincide with the prophetic description of the last
things.
Finally, in forming a correct judgment of the rela-
tion between prophecy and fulfilment, the point yet
remains to be considered, that God in His revelation
placed Himself in an historical relation with mankind,
and the kingdom of God therefore advancing, not by
a process of nature, but as a moral institution, the
fulfilment of prophecy is not placed outside the sphere
of human freedom, although the Divine counsel can-
not in the end fail to come to pass in spite of all op-
position. The teachings of- prophecy, like the law,
subserve an e(/wca^/o/7a/ purpose, bj' making disclosures
concerning the future to man for his good. The Old
Testament declares as clearly as possible, that not
every predicted judgment must of necessity be inflic-
ted in the manner spoken ; that the Divine threatening
leaves man for a long time space for repentance ( Jer.
18: 1—10). In the non-fulfilment, however, of His
threats and promises, God acts not arbitrarily, but
according to a law of righteous retribution. This
doctrine forms, as is obvious, one of the fundamental
thoughts of the Book of Jonah (3: 3-10). There is,
however, a limit to the respites granted by God's long-
PROPHECY AND FULFILMENT. 287
suffering. So, too, when blessings are predicted, the
fulfilment of such predictions depends upon moral
causes, viz., upon the obedient submission of the peo-
ple to the Divine will, while, nevertheless this fulfil-
ment cannot be rendered doubtful by any obstacles
which man can oppose to it. The question here arises,
is the consummation of redemption possible while Israel
is, as a nation, in a state of rejection? The Old Testa-
ment returns an absolute negative to this question. It
speaks only of a temporarj^ rejection, which, more-
over, takes place in such wise that Israel does not
perish as a nation, but is preserved for future restora-
tion. Was then this law abolished when Israel rejected
the gracious visitation of their Messiah, when the
kingdom of God was taken away from them and given
to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof (Matt.
21 : 43)? The New Testament also answers this ques-
tion in the negative (Rom. 11: 25, 26).
[Analysis : 1) Solution of the apparent contradictions of proph-
ecy ; 2) illustrated by the prophecies concerning- the Messiah ; 3)
prophecy is affected by the limits and the sphere of the 0. T.; 4)
the Spiritual meaning' deeper than its form of expression ; 5) the
0. T. form is typical of the form of the N. T. fulfilment; 6) illu-
strated by Isa. 53; 7) the fulfilment of prophecy not placed out-
side the sphere of human freedom ; 8) prophecy subserves an educa-
tional purpose: 9) the lesson of Jonah 3: 3—10; 10) Israel and the
consummation.]
SECTION IV.
OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD.
§ 217. Survey.
The cMef elements in the process of the development
of the kingdom of God now come under consideration.
Sinful Israel belied its blessed vocation. God's holi-
ness obliges Him to do aAvay with this contradiction.
The means by which He effects this end is the inflic-
tion of judgment. The attribute,, in virtue of which
God thus determines the progress of His kingdom on
earth by judgment and deliverance is His righteousness
CHAPTER XL
THE PURPOSE OP THE KINGDOM OF GOD.
§ 218. The Design of God's Kingdom.
The idea of God's purpose in setting up a kingdom
includes the following elements :
1) Jehovah as the Creator and Lord of the world is
in Himself the God of all nations; but,
2) He is not yet God to all nations, and is only mani-
fest as God to Israel, His chosen people;
3) By means of Israel, however, He is to be universally
known and acknowledged ; as He is now the king of
His own people. His kingdom is to be set up among
all the nations of the world b}^ their means.
Of these elements, the first two, are clearly contained
in the Pentateuch (Ex. 19: 5, 6). Nor is the third
THE DESIGN OF GOD's KINGDOM. 289
element absent from the Pentateuch (Gen. 9: 27, the
prophetic words of Noah; Gen. 12: 3; 18: 18; 22: 18;
26: 4; 28: 14, the promise to Abraham, "in thee shall
all the families of the earth be blessed"). But this
last thought falls into the background at the period of
the foundation of the theocracy. The future admis-
sion of the Gentiles into the kingdom of God is first
brought into full light by prophecy. In the older proph-
ets, indeed, the pohtical horizon is still very limited,
including at first only the neighboring nations ; but
when Israel appeared on a wider historical stage,
prophecy clearly and completely recognized that
government of the God of Israel which embraces all
nations, determines their history, and directs all their
ways tow^ard the accomplishment of His own purposes.
The purpose, however, of all this intervention of God
in the heathen world is expressed,— ''that unto me
every knee shall bow; every tongue swear" (Isa. 45:
23). The Book of Daniel, in particular, portrays in
magnificent touches the universality of the Divine
kingdom : ''God changeth the times and the seasons;
he removeth kings, and setteth up kings" (Dan. 2: 21).
The kingdoms of the world which are from beneath
have run their course according to this appointment
(Dan 2 and 7), that the kingdom of God which is to
come from above, and which all must serve (Dan 7:
14), may be set up in its eternal power and glory.
[Analysis: 1) The design of God's kingdom includes three ele-
ments; 2) these thoughts already expressed in the Pentateuch ; 3)
the admission of the Gentiles first brought into lull light by
prophecy; 4) the teaching of the older prophets; 5) of the Book
of Daniel.]
290 OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD.
§ 219. The Relation of the Present to the Purpose of the
Divine Kingdom.
What, then, it may be asked, is the relation of the
present to the purpose of God's kingdom? Israel and
the nations of the world arein a state of contradiction
thereto. Israel, which was to be the means of con-
verting the heathen to God, had become even worse
than the heathen (Ezek: 5: 5-10). In what relation,
then, do the heathen stand to the kingdom of God ?
The heathen are under the Divine displeasure not on
account of their not being Jews, but on account of their
idolatry, the folly and worthlessness of which they
might readily have perceived (Isa. 44: 9; Jer. 10: 8-
10: Ps. 115: 4-8; etc.). That, however, which proper-
ly exposes the heathen to the judgments proceeding
from the God of Israel, is their enmity toward the cove-
nant peop/e.
[Analysis: 1) Israel, on account of idolatry, was not fulfilling
its mission; 2) the i-eason the heathen are under Divine displeas-
ure.]
§ 220. The Judgment upon the Covenant People.
•'God the Holy one sanctifies Himself in righteous-
ness" (Isa. 5: 16), by sending destructive judgments
upon all that opposes His purpose of redemption, and
thus insuring the triumph of His kingdom. The usual
designation of this final theocratic judgment is "the
day of Jehovah" (Joel 1: 15; Zeph. 1: 7); ''the day of
Jehovah's anger (Zeph. 2: 3); ''the great and terrible
day of Jehovah" (Mai. 4:5). The features by which the
prophets portray this day, the manner in which they
describe it as announced and accompanied by terrible
natural phenomena (Joel 2: 30, 31; Isa. 13: 9, 10;
Zeph. 1: 15, 16), are not to be regarded as merely
poetic coloring, but rest upon the scriptural view of the
THE JUDGEMENT UPON THE COVENANT PEOPLE. 291
inalienable connection between the course of nature
and the progress of the Divine kingxlom.
There is a close connection between the judgments
on the covenant people and the judgments on the
heathen world. They seem to stand in immediate con-
nection in the great picture of judgment inZephaniah
(chapters 1 and 2). More strict Ij speaking, however,
the relation of ^ the two judgments to each other is,
that the Judgment of Israel in point of time precedes, that
of the nations of the world, follows. Judgment must
first begin at the house of God, as the apostle Peter
expresses it (1 Pet. 4: 17). And Ezekiel, in the majes-
tic vision recorded in Ezek. 9, sees judgment begin-
ning at the sanctuary and those who are called to be
its guardians.
There is also a historical progress observable in the
announcement of judgment upon the covenant people.
In the Book of Joel Judah is to incur o\\\j a visitation
which leads the people to repentance. In Amos, the
judgments to be inflicted upon the ten tribes occupy
the foreground. And after the catastrophe of Samaria
fails to have the effect of'leading Judah to repentance,
prophec}^ announces henceforth the ruin of the king-
dom of Judah, the destruction of the temple, the des-
olation of the land, and the captivity of the people,
the locality of which is first designated as Babylon in
Micah 4: 10; Isa. 39: 6, 7. Judgment being the abro-
gation of the covenant relation between God and His
people, it was inflicted in the form of expulsion from
the Holy Land, and the abolition of the temple wor-
ship. Israel was to abide many days without king,
and without prince, and without sacrifice (Hos. 3:4),
and to eat polluted bread among the heathen (Hos.
9:4).
292 OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD.
[Analysis: 1) The day of judgment shall come; 2) the features of
the Day of the Lord; 3) description as given by the prophets; 4)
the judgment on Israel precedes that upon the heathen world; 5)
meaning of 1 Pet. 4: 17; 6) teaching of Ezek.9; 7) a progress in the
revelation of the coming of this judgment ; 8) the meaningof Hos.
3:4.]
§ 221. The Judgment upon the Heathen Nations.
The judgment inflicted upon His covenant people is
held up by the Lord as a warning to the heathen ( Jer.
25: 29-38; Isa. 10: 5-15; Obad. 15—16). The view
of the several prophets concerning the judgments
upon the heathen world is fashioned according to the
historical perspective imposed upon each by contem-
porary events. The earliest description is found in
Joel 3. While then Amos, whose opening sentence
(Amos 1: 2) connects his prophecy with Joel 3: 16, di-
vides this general judgment into many acts of national
judgment, Isaiah again (Isa. 24 — 27) sets before us
a representation of a general judgment of the world,
without an}^ definite historical connection, except that
a return from Assjaiancaptivit}^ is spoken of (Isa. 27:
13). On the other hand, prophecy, even in the Assy-
rian period, points onward beyond Assj^ria to 5a6//o/7.
In Jeremiah the series of announcements of judgments
upon the nations closes Avith the magnificent predic-
tion of the fall of Bab3^1on (Jer. 50 and 51).
The fall of Babylon is not, however, contempora-
neous with theendofthisdispensdtion, and according-
ly the history of the world goes on, and with it the
judgment of the world still proceeds. Here we have
that remarkable prophecy of Ezekiel (Ezek. 38 and
39) concerning Gog and ^lagog, which prediction is
made use of in the description of the last conflict
against the Holy City (Rev. 20: 8). This prediction
of judgment is then taken u^hy fhe post -Baby Ionian
THE JUDGMENT UPON THE HEATHEN NATIONS. 293
prophets. The passages m Zechariah (Zech. 12—14),
especially chapter 14, are still more closely connected
with the prophecy of Ezekiel concerning Gog, and at
the same time cany on still further that of Joel. When
things have come to the worst, Jehovah appears with
all His saints upon the Mount of Olives for the deliver-
ance of His people. This day of decision is a day of
terrible darkness; but after the enemies, panic-stricken
by God, have now also helped to exterminate each
other, the light of redemption shall dawn on the even-
ing of this last day of the present dispensation. Here
again the thought is impressed that the church will
have to endure not merelj^ a judicial sifting like that
announced by Malachi (3:2, 18), but an extremity of
tribulation, in which it will seem to have perished.
We close this survej^ of Old Testament prophecy
concerning the judgment of the world, with Daniel's
prophecy of the four kingdoms. According to Dan
2 and 7, the history of the world is to run its course
in four kingdoms. This worldly power is destroyed
at a blow by the kingdom of God comingfrom heaven.
We cannot here more particularly discuss these four
kingdoms. It will always be a matter of dispute
whether to adopt the traditional interpretation, still
advocated by Hengstenberg, Hofmann and others,
which makes these kingdoms to embrace the Baby-
lonian (Chaldean), Medo-Persian, Grecian (Grgeco-
Macedonian), and Koman empires, or the now more
usual one (of Delitzsch among others), which makes
the fourth kingdom the Grecian, and explains the
others variously,— mostly, however, regarding the
second as the Median, the third as the Persian. Of
special importance, however, is that feature in this
delineation of judgment, which represents the arro-
294 OF THE KLNGDOM OF GOD.
gance of the secular power, and its hostility to the
kingdom of God as at last concentrated in a king,
who, with a mouth speaking great things, blasphemes
the Most High, and proceeds to destroy His worship
and exterminate His saints; who then for a period ob-
tains power over the saints of the Most High, until
the final judgment takes place and involves him in
destruction (Dan. 7: 8, 11, 20, 21, 25, 26). That evil
too, will inwardly come to maturity before the final
judgment, is the thought which is here more distinct-
ly expressed than before. Dan. 11: 6 sees a prelimi-
nary embodiment of this view^ in Antiochus Epiphanes ;
and thus the Maccabean persecution, which contri-
buted to the purification of the people, becomes a
type of the last tribulation of the Church (Dan. 12: 1),
which shall be such as never was since there was a na-
tion, but which shall conduce to the purification and
preservation of the Church (Dan. 12: 10).
[Analysis. 1) The teaching of Jer. 25; 29—38; 2) of Joel; 3) of
Isaiah; 4) of Jeremiah; 5) the fall of ABsyria; 6) ofBabvlon;?) the
prophecy of Ezek. 38 and 39; 8) of Zech. 12—14; 9) the great les-
sons to be drawn; 10) the four kingdoms of Daniel; 11) exposition
of Dan. 7; 12) meaning of Dan. 11:^6; 13) of Dan. 12: 1, 10.]
CHAPTEE XII.
THE DELIVERANCE AND RESTORATION OF THE COVENANT
PEOPLE.
§ 222. The Restoration of Israel a Necessary Event.
The future redemption is represented as embracing :
1) The deliverance and restoration of the rejected
covenant people in which even the just who have
fallen asleep are to participate by the resurrection.
2) The introduction of those heathen who have been
saved from judgment into the kingdom of God by
means of the restored covenant people.
3) The prophecies concerning redemption culminate
in the appearance of the Messiah.
The restoration of Israel is not founded upon any
claim that can be advanced by this people, but solely
upon the nature of their God as the Holy and Faith-
ful One. xis Jehovah, He is the Faithful One, whose
words of promise, given to the fathers of the nation
who found favor in His sight, shall stand forever,
while all that is earthly shall perish (Isa. 40: 7, 8).
His faithfulness cannot be made void by the unfaith-
fulness of man. Nay, the Divine judgment of rejection
is to have the effect of causing the whole power of the
Divine love to shine forth ( Jer. 31: 20; Isa. 49: 14, 15;
54: 7-10). But how does this love deliver ? The answer
is, 1) God so arranges that a restoration of this na-
tion is possible; and 2) He so restores the nation as
to make it a fit instrument for the accomplishment of
His purposes of redemption.
296 OF THE KIxNGDOM OF GOD.
[Analysis: 1) The future redemption embraces three things; 2)
the ground of the restoration of Israel; 3) the unfaithfulness of man
cannot make of none effect the faithfulness of God (Rom. 3: 3); 4)
the manner in which the love of God delivers Israel.]
§ 223. The New Covenant an Everlasting One.
1. God's judgments have a purpose, and therefore a
measure, as taught by Isaiah in his profound parable
(Isa. 28: 24-29). According to this measure, judg-
ment is so inflicted upon Israel that thej are preserved
therein. And here we meet with the important proph-
etic doctrine of the remnant of Jacob. In these faithful
ones, this ecclesia invisibilis ofthe old covenant, we have
a pledge that the people of God shall not perish. The
intercession of these servants of God procures a longer
exemption from judgment for the people (Amos 7: 1-
6) . For the sake of this seed of His servants, God will
not exterminate Israel (Isa. 65: 8-10). This remnant
of Jacob, Isaiah declares, shall return to the mighty
God (Isa. 10: 21).
2. In this restored remnant, the stock of the new
Church, the Divine counsel is to attain its end, and
that forever. The new covenant is everlasting (Hos. 2:
19; Jer. 31: 35-37). In the new covenant, God does
not merely demand, but effects that nature in His
people, in virtue of which they are now fitted for their
vocation. This restoration of the people does not in-
deed take place in a magical manner; it becomes pos-
sible on their part through deep repentance for former
sins, and a zealous return to their God. Hence it is
that, when the Divine summons penetrates the lands
of their captivit}^, the rejected ones hasten with trem-
bling, lest their deliverance should be delayed (Hos.
11: 10, 11), and return with weeping and supplications
(Jer. 31: 9). The Divine forgiveness corresponds with
THE NEW COVENANT AN EVERLASTING ONE. 297
the repentance of the people, and is complete. The
fact that God thus restores the people to the same re-
lation to Himself, i« iheir righteousness from Him (Isa.
54: 17). But this righteousness of grace, which thus
abolishes sin, becomes also a righteousness of life, anew
vital principle being implanted in the church by the
outpouring of the Divine Spirit. The new church is a
spiritual church (Isa. 59: 21; Ezek. 39: 29). But such
guidance was effected only by an indwelling of the
Holy Spirit, and even in the prophets this influence
W'as an extraordinary^ endowment. The church of the
future, on the contrary, is founded upon an outpour-
ing of the Spirit upon all flesh (Joel 2: 28, 29). No
age or station is excluded from the possession of the
Spirit. With this agree also the passages in Jer. 31:
34; Isa. 54: 13. This is confirmed by John 6: 45; 1
John 2: 20, 27, which again take up these prophetic
utterances. But these passages are not intended to
do away mth human means for obtaining a knowl-
edge of saving truth, but to proclaim the independence
of human authority enjoined by each member of the
church with respect to his assurance of salvation. They
promise that Divine truth shall be directly testified to
by the Holy Spirit in each member of this church. This
impartation of the Holy Spirit, besides communicat-
ing a vital knowledge of God, purifies the heart and
creates a readiness to fulfil the Divine will (Ezek. 36:
25-27; Jer. 31: 33). And thus the end of the Old
Testament educational work is attained; the holy
people of God is also a subjectively holj church.
[Analysis: 1) The lesson taught by Isa. 28: 24— 29; 2) the doc-
trine of the remnant of Jacob; 3) the meaning of Jer. 31: 35—37;
4) this restoration rests on certain conditions; 5) a distinc-
tion already drawn between a rig-hteousnesa of grace and of life;
6) both given by the Spirit; 7) difference between the working of
the Spirit in the O. and N. T.; 8) the assurance of salvation; 9)
the meaning of Ezek. 36: 25 — 27 and Jer. 31: 33.]
298 OF THE KLNGfDOM OF GOD.
§ 224. Other Features of the Times of Redemption.
The other features of the times of redemption are,
according to prophetic intuition, the following:
1. The return of the people to the Holy Land, and
the restoration of Jerusalem. The possession of the
Holy Land is declared to be a perpetual one, from
Joel 3: 20 and Amos 9: 15 onward, with increase of
territory (Obadiah 17: 21).
2. The reunion of the twelve tribes. This point is
most fully treated in the prophecy of Ezekiel (37: 15
-28).
3. Bj reason of the causal connection between sin
and evil, the restoration of the people being a deliver-
ance from sin, is at the same time the abolition of evil
in all respects— an abolition of all the troubles of life ;
the sanctification of the inner life effected by the Holy
Spirit was to press outward, and manifest itself in a
perfect purification and consecration of even the most
ordinary affairs of life.
Zechariah (14: 20, 21) expresses the thought that
holiness is to penetrate even to that which is most
external. Among the troubles of life so frequently
summed up in the Old Testament as the four chief evils
(the sword, famine, wild beasts, and pestilence) Avhich
shall be abolished, war is especially mentioned. All
weapons are to be destroj^ed (Isa. 2: 4; Zech. 9: 10);
the new church is unapproachable in its protected re-
tirement (Mic. 7: 14); the new city of God is no more
to be desecrated by enemies (Joel 3:17). Peace is also
to pervade nature. Every blessing of heaven and earth
is to be poured out upon the favored people ; all that
can harm them is to be done away vith (Hos. 2: 18;
Amos 9: 13-15; Ezek. 34: 25-31).^ The nature of the
DEATH DESTROYED. 299
wild beasts is to be changed (Isa. 11: 6-9). This de-
scription mnst not be regarded, as by some, as mere
allegory. But in all these pictures of the da^^s of re-
demption we always perceive that such external reno-
vation presupposes deliverance from sin and inward
renewal.
[Analysis: 1) Three other features of the times of redemption;
2) the return to the Holy Land, as taught by the prophets; 3)
meaning of Ezek. 37: 15—28; 4) of Zech. 14: 20, 21; 5) the four
chief evils named in the O. T. shall be abolished; 6) exposition of
Amos 9: 13-15; 7) of Ezek. 34: 25—31; 8) of Isa. 11: 6-9.]
§ 225. Death Destroyed.
The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death, in
which the penalty inflicted to mankind for sin culmi-
nates. The voice of weeping shall be no more heard
in the new- Jerusalem (Isa. 65: 19). Yet in this very
passage (verses 20-23), human life is only supposed
to be of greater length, perhaps such as Genesis as-
cribes to primeval time. Here, then, a limitation
of the power of death is spoken of, and also sin is
still- represented as possible. On the other hand,
prophecy rises in some passages to a declaration of
the annihilation of death, and of a resurrection of the
dead. The ultimate grounds on which the prophetic
doctrine of the resurrection rests, are :
1) The knowledge of the living God, who has power
even over death and the regions of the dead (Deut.
32: 39; 1 Sam. 2: 6).
2) The importance of human personality, which is
called to communion with God.
Still it is not of the vanishing of death in the cases
of individuals that prophecy chiefly treats, but of the
eternal duration of the Church. This is guaranteed
by the eternity of God, who is an inexhaustible source
300 OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD.
of life even to His perishing people (Isa. 40: 28-31).
When the heavens wax old as doth a garment, and are
changed as a A'esture, He remains the same, and there-
fore the seed of His servants shall outlast these
changes of the universe (Ps. 102: 27, 28). And this
very fact that the Church rises again in renewed vigor
after apparent destruction, is also represented as her
resurrection from death (Hos. 6: 2; 13: 14). The last
verse (Hos. 13: 14) points significantly to an actual
conquest of death and the region of the dead ; hence
its citation in 1 Cor. 15: 55.
[Analysis: 1) The meaning of Isa. 65:19—23; 2) the ultimate
gTounds of the resurrection ; 3) the teaching ol Isa. 40: 28—31; 4)
of Hos. 6: 2; 5) of Hos. 13: 14.]
§ 226. The Resurrection.
In Isa. 25: 8, the prophet speaking of the times of
redemption, declares that the Lord would forever an-
nihilate death and wipe away tears from all faces.
This implied, in the first place, only the abolition of
death for the church of that period ; but in Isa. 2G: 19
the prophecy goes further. On the day of the final
judgment for which the Lord rises (Isa. 26: 21),
the earth discloses her blood, and no more covers her
slain ; these, according to the most probable explana-
tion, being awakened to new life, obtain their justifi-
cation. Advancing to still later prophecy we first
meet with Ezekiel's vision of dry bones (Ezek. 37).
From the times of the Church Fathers to the most
recent expositors, it has been disputed whether the
description in Ezek. 37: 1-10 is to be understood Ht-
erally of the resurrection of the dead, or symbolically
of the restoration of the covenant people. After the
almost exclusive adoption of the symbolical meaning
in recent times, Hitzig and Kliefoth have again re-
THE RESURRECTION. 301
vived the literal interpretation. In any case, ilo^Y-
ever, the vision is of the greatest importance in the
development of the doctrine of the resurrection,
which, though not resulting therefrom as its direct
application, is yet implied by its obvious application.
The resurrection of the dead is, ho^yever, decidedly
taught in Dan. 12: 2, 13. According to the connec-
tion of Dan. 12: 2 with Dan 11: 33, 35, the promise of
a resurrection to life (Isa. 26: 19) is made especially
Avith reference to those who have maintained their
fidelity to God by a confessor's death. The expres-
sion "manj^", however, must not be taken in a partial
sense. It is not used in opposition to those who do
not rise, but merely as expressing a great number.
The resurrection of the ungodly first appears in Daniel
(12: 2), though the transition to it is formed by Isa.
66: 24. Daniel is speaking only of a resurrection of
Israel, not of that of all men ; the latter not being ex-
pressly mentioned in the Old Testament, though an
allusion to it may be found in Isa. 24: 22.
.[Analysis: 1) The teaching of Isa. 25: 8; 2) of Isa. 26: 19; 3) of
Isa. 26: 21; 4) of Ezek. 37: 1—10; 5) of Dan. 12: 2, 18; 6) the re-
surrection of the ungodly; 7) of all men.]
CHAPTER XIII.
THE ADMISSION OF THE HEATHEN INTO THE KINGDOM
OF GOD.
§ 227. The Extension of the Kingdom of God in the Times
of Redemption.
The opposition of the heathen world to the divinely
purposed kingdom of God, is subdued by the destruc-
tive judgment inflicted on it. But this judgment is
to have also a positive result. As, however, Israel
is to be restored only in its sifted remnant, so also is
only the remnant of the heathen, Avho do homage to
the Lord, rescued from judgment (Zech. 14: 16). To
the intuition of the older prophets, this enlargement
of the kingdom of God by the admission of the hea-
then is first of all an extension of the theocracy as it
existed under David and Solomon, when heathen na-
tions were subject to the sceptre of the theocratic
king (Amos 9: 11, 12). On the other hand, we are
placed upon the heights of prophetic intuition in the
descriptions of the latter days given in Isa. 2: 2-4,
and Mic. 4: 1-4. All nations are going to Zion, which
is spiritually elevated above all the mountains of the
world, to receive there the Divine law as the rule of
their lives, while universal peace prevails under the
rule of Jehovah. But it is especially in the Book of
Isaiah (40-66) that the mission of Israel as the ser-
vant of" the Lord, to be the medium of revelation to
all mankind, forms one of the fundamental thoughts.
In this consummation of redemption, the theocratic
HEATHEN ADMITTED INTO THE KINCiDOM OF GOD. 303
relation in which Jehovah in Old Te.stament times
stood to Israel, is transferred to all mankind. The
Lord has become the King of all nations (Zech. 14: 16,
17; Isa. 24: 23; etc.). AH the treasures of the world,
all the most precious possessions of the Gentiles, now
conduce to the glory of the Divine kingdom, and are
used for the adornment of the city and temple of God
(Isa. 60: 9-11; Hag. 2: 7).
[Analysis: 1) The teaching of Zech. 14: 16; 2) of Amos 9: 11, 12;
3) of Isa. 2: 2—4; 4) of Mic. 4: 1—4; 5) of Isa. 40—66; 6) of Isa.
60: 9—11; 7) of Hag. 2: 7.]
§ 228. The Conditions under which the Heathen are ad-
mitted into the Kingdom of God.
The coming of this kingdom of God which embraces
all nations, is, however, combined, according to
prophetic intuition, with the fact that Israel is to re-
main the mediatory nation at the head of the na-
tions, and Jerusalem with its temple to form the
central point of the kingdom to wiiich the nations
are to journey. The incorporation of the heathen
into the kingdom of God is in Ps. 87 represented as
their acquisition of rights of citizenship in Jerusalem,
to which also the passage in Isa. 56: 3-7 refers.
Prophecy does not contemplate the abolition of sacri-
fice in the coming period of salvation, for the rites of
worship in this future and enlarged kingdom of God
are connected in respect to sacrifice and festival, with
the Old Testament ritual. See especially Isa. 56:
7; 66: 23; Zech. 14: 16-19. On the other hand
there is no lack of prophetic passages in which the
limitations of the Old Testament ritual are broken
through. We would here notice tw^o remarkable
prophetic passages in which the connection with the
place of worship in Jerusalem is effaced. 1) Mai. 1:
304 OF THE KIXGDOM OF GOD.
11, a passage quoted times Avithoiit number by the
Fathers, and falsely claimed hj Koman Catholic the-
ologians as the chief passage in favor of the sacrifice
of the mass. Here Malachi, referring to the time when
the Lord shall be manifested to the Gentiles, predicts
a sacrificial service among all nations in all parts of
the world. 2) Side by side with this may be placed
the noted prophecj^ concerning Egypt in Isa. 19,
which speaks of worship of Jehovah instituted not b^^
Israelites but by Egyptians, and indeed in the land of
Egypt. Thus did the spirit of prophecy struggle to
overcome particularism b}^ exhibiting the Divine pur-
pose concerning the kingdom of God. Oehler gives
us no hint as to the manner in which these prophecies
pertaining to sacrifice and temple worship should be
interpreted, whether literally, or typically and meta-
phorically. A /itera/ interpretation is scarcely pos-
sible, for as the apostles described in the words of
this world the things of the world to come, so the
prophets depicted the spiritual kingdom of Christ in
words taken from earthly things connected Avith the
state of the Church under the Old Testament, and
which, therefore, are to be explained typically.
[Analysis: 1) The part Israel is to take in the admission of Gen-
tiles into the kingdom ; 2) the teaching of Ps. 87; 3) of Isa. 5G:
3-7; 4) ofZech. 14: 16-19; 5) of Mai. 1: 11; 6) of Ezek. 19; 7) the
manner in which this worship is to be interpreted.]
CHAPTER XIV.
THE MESSIAH,
§ 229. The Messianic Hope.
The consummation of redemption is according to
prophetic intuition, introduced on the one hand by
the personal coming of Jehovah in His glory, but on
the other by the coming of a king of the race of David,
the Messiah. The former view prevails in a great
number of passages. The t^YO views are placed in
juxtaposition in Ezek. 34. The Lord here declares
Himself against the unfaithful shepherds of His people,
who have suffered them to perish. He will, it is at
first said in verses 11-15, Himse/fieed His sheep. But
then the prophecy turns directl}^ in verse 23 to the
other view: ''I will set up one shephered over them,
even my servant David ; he shall feed them, and he
shall be their shepherd." Then in verse 24 the two
views are connected : "And I the Lord will be their
God, and my servant David prince among them."
Now this son of David in whom Old Testament
prophecy culminates is the Messiah. The word Mashiahh
(Chrisios, anointed) is used in the Old Testament first
as the designation of every one anointed mth the
holy anointing oil, but especially is ''The Lord's an-
ointed", the title of the theocratic king; and on this
account it became, chiefly by reason of the passages
Ps. 2: 2, Dan. 9: 25, the proper name of the descend-
ant of David who was to achieve complete redemp-
tion, and bring to its consummation the kingdom of
God.
306 OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD.
The Messianic hope had ah^eadv struck root in a
series of passages in the Pentateuch, and here come
\ under consideration the passages in Gen 3: 15; 12: 3;
18:18; 22: 18; 26: 4; 28: 14; 49: 10; Num. 24: 17, 18;
Deut. 18; 15-19.
' [Analysis: 1) The two views of the consummation of redemp-
tion as presented in the O. T.; 2) exposition of Ezek. 84; 3) the
word Messiah ; 4) the doctrine of the Messiah in the Pentateuch.]
§ 230. The Promise, 2 Sam. 7, as the Foundation of the
Messianic Idea in its stricter Sense. The Messianic Psalms.
2 Sam. 7 forms in a twofold respect the starting-
point for the more definite form of the Messianic idea,
—1) by the fact that the consummation of the king-
dom of God for which Israel was chosen, is from this
time forward connected with a king who, as the son
of God, /. e. the representative of Jehovah, and, fitted
by Him to be the depositary of the Divine sovereignty
on earth,— stands in a relation of most intimate con-
nection with God ; and 2) in that it is established for
all time that this king is to be a son of David. How
glorious the view of the Davidic kingdom is rendered
by the promise in 2 Sam. 7, is first shown by the last
song of David (2 Sam. 23). But sacred poetry, under
the impulse of the Spirit, now creates a kingly image,
in which all that the present manifests is far sur-
passed, and the kingship of David and Solomon be-
held in typical perfection. This leads us to the Mes-
sianic Psalms^ (2, 45, 72, 110), with respect to which
Mree different views have at all times existed. 1) Some
refer these Psalms to some actual Israelite king; but
since they idealize his government, and thus transfer
1 Among the prophetical and typical Psalms we mav place Pss.
2, 16, 22, 24, 31, 35, 40, 41, 45, 50, .55, 68, 69, 72, 78, 87, 88, 102,
105, 106, 109, 110, 118, 132, 135, 136.
MESSIAH IN THE PKOPHETS. 307
to him predicates (such as the right to nDiversal
sovereignty, Ps. 2: 2, and the union of an everlasting
priesthood with his kingship, Ps. 110), which cannot
find in him their full historical accomplishment, they
typically point to the future realizer of the theocratic
kingship. 2) Others maintain that the psalmist,
filled with the idea of the theocratic kingship,
really rises in these psalms to the view of an in-
dividual in whom this idea is perfectly realized,
and hence, according to the mind of the spirit, is
speaking of the coming Messiah. 3) Others again
distinguish between the original signification of these
psalms, by which they refer to an historical king, and
the use which, as prophetic and Messianic songs of
praise, they subsequently acquired in Divine worship.
Oehler holds that the third view is especially ap-
plicable to Ps. 45, but grants that the directly Mes- 1
sianic interpretation is fully borne out in Pss. 2, 72, i
and 110.
[Analysis: 1) The Messiauic idea as presented in 2 Sam. 7; 2)
three interpretations have been given to the Messianic Psalms; 3)
exposition of the prophetical Psalms.]
§ 231. The Development of the Idea of the Messiah in
the Prophets.
In the earlier prophets, as in Hos. 1: 11; 3: 5; Amos
9: 11, we have only a general reference to the person
of the Messiah. Full and detailed predictions of the
Messiah are not met Avith till after the middle of the
eio:hth centurv, in Isaiah and Micah. Such Messianic
prophec}^ is, however, by no means introduced by
them as something absolutely new and till now alien
to the prophetic consciousness. ^
1 The view which makes the Messianic hope in general origin-
ate in the 8th century b. c. cannot be sustained.
y/
308 OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD.
To sum up the essential features of Messianic
prophecy, let us inquire, what does prophecy teach
concerning the nature of the Messiah? Does it at-
tribute to Him a superhuman dignity? The meaning
of almost all the passages on this subject has been
made a matter of controversy.
We begin with Micah 5: 2-4. The words speak
either a) of an eternal and Divine origin of the Mes-
siah (so Caspar! , Boehl and others, the correct view),
or state b) that the entire sacred history from its
very beginnings contains the goings forth of the ]\Ies-
siahjthe preparatory elements of His coming (so Hof-
mann and Orelli). It is noticeable too that the
prophets, however near at hand their intuition may
make the advent of the Messiah, never speak of Him
as the son of any actually existing king. The pas-
sage Mic. 5: 3 is parallel with the prophecy Isa. 7: 14
of the birth of Immanuel from the virgin, a passage
whose reference to the Messiah is demanded by its
connection with Isa. 9: 6, though the interpretation
at present prevailing regards it as only tj^pically
Messianic. The mysterious nature, however, of the
expression can neither here nor in^Iicah be mistaken,
and Ewald as well as Orelli and Boehl have defended
its Messianic interpretation.
The exalted nature of the Messiah, however, is
/ more definitely brought forward in Isa. 9: 6, 7. The
Messiah is evidently regarded as a Divine Being,
though here also the expressions are mysteriously in-
definite. Compare also Isa. 11: 1-5.
How close, side by side, the two lines of promise,—
the appearance of God and the appearance of Mes-
siah—run, and seem almost to touch without uniting,
is shown also by the Messianic predictions of the sub-
THE OFFICE AKD WORK OF THE MESSIAH. 309
sequent prophets. In Jer. 23: 5, 6; 33: 15, 16, the. ^
Messiah is described as the Branch of righteousness, and
"Branch" becomes even Si proper name of the Messiah
(Zech. 3: 8; 6: 12). See also Jer. 30: 9; Ezek. 34: 23,
24. The chief Messianic passage in Daniel is found in
Dan. 7: 13, 14. Although the interpretation of this i^
passage has been controverted, the traditional exe-
gesis, as far as it can be followed back has regarded
the Son of Man as the Messiah, who hence appears,
as Paul says, as the Lord from heaven.
[Analysis : 1 ) Nature of the references in the earlier prophets ; 2)
the teaching of Micah 5: 2—4-; 3) parallel with Isa. 7; 14; 4) the
meaning of Isa. 9: 6, 7; 5) of Isa. 11: 1—5; 6) these two ideas of
the appearance of Jehovah and of the Messiah revealed also in the
later prophets; 7) teaching of Jeremiah; 8)of Ezekiel; 9) of Daniel;
10) of Zechariah.]
§ 232. The Office and Work of the Messiah.
With respect to the office and work of the Messiah,
these are, as the name itself implies, first those of a
king. His coming presupposes the rejection of the na-
tion, and the deepest humiliation of the house of
David; hence the Messianic kingdom rises from an
abject to a glorious state. This thought is expressed
in Mic. 5: 2, but especially in Isa. 11: 1. The passage
in Ezek. 17: 22-24 also treats of this subject. With
this corresponds the description in Zech. 9: 9, 10.' It
is not with the pomp of an earthl^^ conquerer, but
with lowly array and riding upon an ass, that the
Messiah makes His entry into Jerusalem. Beginning
at Jerusalem, He founds a peaceful kingdom, which
is to reach from sea to sea, and from the river to the
ends of the earth.
An important question here arises : Does the Old
Testament also speak of a suffering Christ? /. e. of One
who atones by death and suffering for the sins of the
310 OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD.
people. The Messianic passages quoted hitherto do
not involve this. According to Isa. 11: 4-9 the Mes-
siah effects the abolition of sin, 1) by judging right-
eously, and 2) by the fact that under Him the earth
shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord. But togeth-
er with these statements, there is another prophetic
view which points to a servant of God who suffers in
the place of the people, to an act of atonement on
which the dawning of the day of redemption depends,
to the priesthood of the Messiah, To show the connec-
tion between this branch of prophecy and the whole
doctrinal system of the Old Testament, it will be
necessary to enter somewhat more into detail.
[Analysis: 1) The Messiah will be a king: 2) the Messianic king-
dom rises from an abject to a glorious state; 3) illustrated by
Micah .5: 2; Isa. 11: 1; Ezek. 17: 22-24; 4) teaching of Zech. 9: 9,
10; 5) does the O. T. teach that Christ should suffer? 6) teach-
ing of Isa. 11: 4—9; 7) the 0. T. also jteaches that the Messiah
will be a priest.]
§ 233. The Servant of Jehovah.
In Ps. 22 a guiltless sufferer, exposed to ruthless
enemies and undergoing agonizing torture, prays for
deliverance from his misery. While he is wrestling in
prayer, faith triumphs. Then follows a description
how, in consequence of this Divine act of deliverance,
all w^ho are afflicted and exposed to death find re-
freshment at the sacrificial feast made by the rescued
sufferer. The description at the end of the psalm re-
calls especially the predicted feast of the Messianic
days (Isa. 25: 6-8), which God is preparing upon
Mount Zion for all nations. Whether the psalm was
occasioned by the experience of a David, a Jeremiah,
or some other servant of God, the details are minute-
ly descriptive of the Messiah and far surpass any-
THE SEKVA^T OF JEHOVAH. 311
thing that could be predicted of any Old Testament
character.
That the intercession of the righteous for a sinful
nation is effectual, is a thought running through the
entire Old Testament. The prophecy of redemption
is not complete till it beholds an individual advocat-
ing the cause of the people before God ; and this is the
servant of Jehovah (Isa. 53), which can only refer to an
individual. [This can be the only true interpretation,
that the prophetic intuition of the servant of Jehovah
of Isaiah (40-66) begins with the nation, but cul-
minates in an individual. So early as Isa. 42 and 49
the view is gradually transferred from the nation to
an individual distinct from the nation, who (Isa. 42: /
6) negotiates a covenant for the people, and then be-
comes the light of the Gentiles. Prophecy rises to
the intuition of one in whom the image of the faithful
servant is complete,— of one who, not for His own sins,
but as a substitute of the people and for their sins,
lays down His life as an offering for sin (Isa. 53: 10)7j
a paying in full for debt, but is notwithstanding the
prophetic message which points to Him, despised'and
regarded by the people, for whom He appears, as
stricken of God for His own transgressions, who is,
moreover, treated even in death like the violent
wicked and like those w^hom a curse follows even to
the grave. But God leads Him from the grave to
glory, so that He is now the author of righteousness
to many, and divides the spoil with the strong (Isa.
53:3-12).
[Analysis: 1) The meaning of Ps. 22; 2) of Isa. 25: 6— 8; 3) the
meaning of "the servant of Jehovah"; 4) development of the idea;
5) interpretation of Isa. 53.]
312 OF THE KINCtDOAI OF GOD
§ 234. The Messiah is the Atoning High Priest.
Whether Isaiah was himself conscious that this ser-
vant of God, who atones by His suffering for the sins
of the people, was indeed the Messiah, has been af-
firmed by some, denied by others, and some affirm
that this remains an open question. In Zeehariah,
however, the Messiah distinctly appears as the future
/ Redeemer of the people, and indeed as their atoning
High Priest. This is already seen in Zech. 3: 8-10.
This future Atoner to whom the present priesthood
typicallj^ refers, is ihe Branch, the Son of David, the
Messiah. In Zech. 6: 9-15 the Messiah appears as
an atoning Priest, and other special features are
added in Zech. 12: 10-13. We must also here refer
to "the anointed one" of Dan. 9: 26, in connection
with that famous passage of Daniel (9: 24-27).
[Analysis: 1) Did Isaiah understand his prophecy? 2) the mean-
ing of Zech. 3: 8—10; 3) of Zech. 6: 9—15; 4) of Zech. 12: 10—13;
5)ofDan. 9:24— 27.]
PART III.
WISDOM.
PART III.
OLD TESTAMENT WlSbOW.
§ 235. The Nature of Old Testament Wisdom.
The Old Testament Wisdom (Hhokhma) forms, with
the law and prophecy, a special department of knowl-
edge, to which three of the canonical books of the
Old Testament (Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes),
and, in virtue of their matter, many of the Psalms
also, pre-eminently belong. The law gives the com-
mandments and claims of Jehovah. Prophecy, pro-
claims the AYord of the Lord, which reveals His coun-
sels, and discloses the object of God's mode of govern-
ment. The Hhokhma does not in an equal manner
refer its matter to direct Divine causation, and does
not profess to be a word of God in the strictest sense
of the term, but rather the product of the wise man's
own experience and thought, resulting from reflection
upon the truths presented by revelation. It has
sometimes been styled the philosophy of the Hebrews.
But Old Testament wisdom is nevertheless essentially
different from other philosophy. It is based, indeed,
upon the observation of nature and human affairs,
and especially in the latter respect upon experience
as handed dow^n by the ancients (Job 12: 7-13; 5:
27; 8: 8—10). In such investigations of nature and
human life, however, it is placed under a regulative
factor which Greek wisdom does not possess; it starts
from a supernaiuralisiic assumption which the latter
316 WISDOM.
lacks. Its mode of procedure, is to endeavor, by
means of that key of knowledge which revelation af-
fords, better to understand God's ways in the world,
and through the knowledge of God's will furnished by
the law, better to determine the duties of human life.
The Old Testament wisdom begins by abasing the
self-sufficiency of natural knowledge, and giving glory
to Divine revelation, /. e. it begins with the fear of the
Lord, as it so often designates its subjective principle
of knowledge (compare Prov. 30: 1-6).
[Analysis: 1) The Wisdom literature of O. T.; 2) (). T. Wisdom
as distinguished from the Law and Prophecy; 3) differs however
from Philosophy; 4) takes the fact of revelation as a basis.]
§ 236. The Contents of the Old Testament Wisdom.
But how does the Hhokhma obtain an objective
principle of knowledge? The Israehtish mind, reflecting
on the acts and waj^s of God as handed down, and on
the Divine ordinances by whose discipline it has been
strengthened, attains to the perception of their mar-
velous adaptation to their purpose, especially when
it compared the law of Israel with the laws and stat-
ues of heathenism. This impression of the adapta-
tion of the law to its purpose, which the Israelitish
mind received, is expressed in numerous passages
of the Old Testament (Ps. 147: 19,20; 19: 7-11), but
especially Ps. 119, which proclaims in 176 verses the
praises of the law. From the perception of the adap-
tation of the theocratic ordinances to the purpose of
their institution the mind then advances to the
thought of an all-embracing and all -ruling purpose. The
purposes and government of God being then recog-
nized outside the theocracy also, the universe is re-
garded not as a mere product of the power of God,
who can create what He will (Ps. 115: 3; 135: 6), but
THE PERSONIFICATION OF WISDOM. 317
as the product of the Divme plan Thus arises the
thought of the Divine wisdom as the principle of the
world ; and this it is which is the objective principle of
the Hhokhma. The task now presented to the Israel-
itish mind was to show that a Divine teleology exists
everywhere, even beyond the boundary defined by the
theocratic ordinances, — a task to which, in prospect
of the inexhaustible fulness here offered, it devoted
itself with delight.
The form peculiar to the Old Testament wisdom is
the proverb, which consists of two members, the
thought expressed in the first being illustrated more
fully in the second part. The proverb requires con-
cise and exact statement, and this brevity of expres-
sion is specially illustrated hj the maxims in the col-
lection Prov. 10-22, containing for the most part but
seven Hebrew Avords in both members, generally four
in the first and three in the second.
[Analysis: 1) Meditation on the Divine law reveals its purpose;
2) the praises of the law; 3) the purpose of God's government
is recognized 4) as well as God's plan ; 5) divine Wisdom is the
objective principle of knowledge; 6) the proverb.]
CHAPTER I.
OBJECTIVE DIVINE WISDOM.
§ 237. The Personification of Wisdom.
That the Divine intelligence, that the Divine nous,
is employed in the creation and preservation of the
universe, is laid down as a general proposition in
Prov. 3: 19, 20. Though msdom here appears only
as an aiiribute of God, the well-known passage Prov.
8: 22-36, goes further. AVisdom is personified in this
passage, and is no longer regarded as a mere attrib-
ute of God, nor even as a dependent power, but as
that creative, arranging, and energizing thought of
the world, which proceeds from God, and is objective
even to Himself, or, to express it with Delitzsch in a
more concrete manner, as the reflection of God's plan
of the world objective to Himself. That wisdom is ob-
jective, that it is regarded as the plan of the universe
which proceeded from God, and which has itself be-
come objective to God, is also very evident from Job
28: 12-28. In both of these chief passages (Prov. 8
and Job 28) wisdom is the principle of the world laid
down by God, and not a creature like the things in
the world, its coming forth from God being, on the
contrary, the presupposition of the world's creation.
We cannot go further ; but, as Nitzsch expresses it,
we have here an unmistakable germ of the ontologic-
al self-distinction of the Godhead. How closely the
Old Testament borders upon actually regarding Wis-
dom as a personal existence, is shown more especially
THE OLD TESTAMENT VIEW OF NATURE. 319
by the remarkable passage in Job 15: 7, 8. How are
we here reminded of '^the one who is in the bosom of
the Father" (John 1: 18), and how justly has Ewald
found in this passage an echo of the subsequent idea
of the Logos! Perhaps, too, the "Son" of God in
Prov. 30: 4 may also thus be explained.
[Analysis: 1) The teaching of Prov. 3: 19, 20; 2) wisdom is
personified in Prov. 8: 22—36, 3) teaching of Job 28: 12—28; 4)
wisdom regarded as objective to God Himself; 5) teaching of Job
15:7, 8; 6) of Prov. 30: 4.]
§ 238. The Old Testament View of Nature.
In the Old Testament the world is not regarded
merely as the product of power, but more definitely
as the product of an almight}^ will ordering all in
conformity with its purpose. It is according to this
principle that the Old Testament view of nature must
be defined. The ruling omnipotence of God is placed
above all. He who has subjected all that is in heaven
and on earth to His laws (Job 38: 11, 33; Jer. 31:
35; 33: 25), makes also the course of nature subserve
Wi^ purpose. This purpose is, in general, the manifes-
tation of the Divine glory. The order of nature is
further placed in connection with the moral order of the
world. What the Mosaic doctrine of retribution
teaches (see § 89) concerning this connection, viz.,
that the course of nature subserves the purpose of
Divine justice, is maintained to its full extent in the
Hhokhma.
[Analysis: 1) The 0, T. views of nature; 2) the ruling omnipo-
tence of God; 3) all under subjection to God's purpose; 4) con-
nection between the order of nature and the moral order of the
world.]
§ 239. The Control of Wisdom in Human Affairs.
Not only nature, but human affairs, are controlled
by wisdom as an objective Divine principle. That
320 WISDOM.
same wisdom which is the goTerning principle of the
universe, has taken np its abode on earth, and rules
as a sovereign all the events of life, in which a Divine
design, and therefore Divine intelligence, is every-
where perceiDtible.
If we inquire more closely as to the means by which
wisdom makes her appeal to man, Prov. 1: 23 points
to those factors of revelation, the Word and the
Spirit. Indeed the Word is the vehicle of the Spirit.
The effect of this upon men is first designated as //7-
struct/'on. The idea of instruction is one of the funda-
mental ideas of the Proverbs of Solomon, — one of the
seven pillars (Prov. 9: 1), as Oetinger says, upon
which the house of wisdom is supported. Wisdom
and instruction are inseparably connected (Prov. 1:
2, 7; 23: 23); the way to wisdom is called a reception
of instruction (Prov. 1: 3; 19: 20). The preservation
of wisdom is onh^ possible by taking fast hold of iu_
struction (Prov. 4: 13; 10: 17). Consequently it is
with this instruction or reproof that the educational
agency of wisdom upon man must begin ; for man is
by nature ignorant of the way of salvation, and easi-
ly seduced to evil. He who will not be convinced,
who in his self-sufficiency will not receive the reproofs
of instruction, nay, hates them, shows himself
thereby to be a foo/, brutish, and is in his incorrigible-
ness hastening to irretrievable ruin (Prov. 1: 24-27;
12: 1; 13: 18; etc.). He who fears God submits to
this reproof of instruction, and walks in the way of
wisdom (Prov. 1: 8, 9).
[Analysis: 1) Human affairs are controlled by wisdom; 2) by the
Spirit through the Word ; 3) the effect is instruction; 4) wisdom
only preserved through instruction ; 5) w^hy man must be in-
structed; 6) difference between the foolish and the wise man.]
CHAPTER II.
SUBJECTIVE HUMAN WISDOM.
§ 240. The Fear of the Lord the Subjective Principle of
Wisdom.
The subjective principle of msdom is, then, ihe fear
of the Lord (Prov. 1: 7). The fear of the Lord is the
knowledge of Me >^//-//o// (Prov. 9: 10). This Divine
holiness addresses itself, in that law which reveals the
perfect will of God, to the free will of man. Conse-
quently the fear of the Lord, as the knowledge of the
All-Holy, is based upon the will of God which opposes
all selfish and sinful human efforts, and appoints, in
conformity with His purpose of salvation, an end and
measure to all things ; it is the dread of disobeying
this holy will of God. Hence it involves, according to
the just definition of its moral characteristics (Prov.
8: 13), hatred of "evil, pride, arrogance, and the evil
way." From this fear of God proceeds also the effort
1) to perceive in everything the end designed by the
Divine will; and 2) to realize it in every action, as it
is said, "in all thy ways acknowledge Him" (Prov. 3:
6). The former may be called theoretical, the latter
practical wisdom. This fear of God is not, however,
a slavish one, but rather a relation of intimacy with
God, for "the secret (counsel or friendship) of the
Lord is with them that fear Him" (Ps. 25: 14).
[Analysis: 1) The subjective principle of wisdom; 2) in what
this wisdom consists; 3) the normal characteristics of a holy
fear; 4) its two-fold aim ; 5 J not a slavish fear.]
322 WISDOM.
§ 241. Practical Wisdom.
Subjective wisdom, though by no means excluding
theoretical questions, is yet for the most part prac-
tical, and- bent upon accomplishing the holy will of
God in human life. Since, however, this will of God
aims not only at the external consecration of the life,
but also at the sanctification of the heart and temper,
the ethics of the Old Testament doctrine of wisdom
does not treat only, as has been so often supposed,
of a restoration of an external legality of conduct.
The ethics of the book of Proverbs seeks to arouse
the fear of God, and of the all-seeing Searcher of
hearts (Prov. 15: 11; 16: 2; etc.). Convict/on of sin is
required (Prov. 20: 9), Prov. 28: 13 declares the
duty of confessing sin, and the happiness of obtaining
forgiveness. Sacrifice, as a mere external work is rejec-
ted (Prov. 15: 8). Among the exhortations in Prov.
4: 20-27 the greatest stress is laid (v. 23) upon keep-
ing the heart (''above all that thou guardest").
[Analysis: 1) Subjective wisdom aims at the sanctification of
the heart; 2) conviction of sin is demanded.]
§ 242. The Ethics of the Proverbs.
Notwithstanding what has been said, it must be
confessed that the wisdom of the Proverbs is chiefly
concerned with the sphere of the externa/ life. The
ethics of the Proverbs is of an undeniable negative
character, and presents by reason of the constant re-
flection upon the end designed bj that which they
recjuire, an appearance of coldness and extreme mode-
ration. The impelling power of love is wanting as a
motive.
In consequence of this negative character, it is
TEither Justice than love which is the duty a man owes
THE ETHICS OF THE PROVERBS.
323
to his neighbor ; and it has even been a matter of re-
proach against the ethics of these maxims, that they
sometimes border upon the recommendation of a
selfish prudence. But the Book of Proverbs has nu-
merous maxims, which relate to the practice of those
duties resulting from the principle of love, placability
being inculcated (Pro v. 10: 12); the love of enemies
(25: 21, 22); peaceableness (17: 14; 20: 3); gentleness
and patience (15: 1, 18); forbearance to the poor
(22: 22), in impressing which last named virtue, it is
expressly stated that the Creator is honored by him
that hath mercy on the needy (14: 31).
[Analysis: 1) The ethics of theBook of Proverbs mainly negative;
2) more stress is laid on justice than love; 3) but the principle of
love is also urged.]
CHAPTER m.
MORAL GOOD.
§ 243. The Realization of the Moral Good in the Individual
Life.
The teaching of the Hhokhma concerning the pos-
session of earthly good is entirely based upon the
Mosaic doctrine of retribution. What this express-
es as the shall of promise and threatening, is an-
nounced in Proverbs as a fact, and that ^^dth the as-
surance arising from direct experience (13: 9, 21). A
number of sayings on this subject are found in the
speeches of the three friends of Job, who explicitly
aim to exhibit the actual reality of the Divine law of
retribution. That the life, which is the reward of ms-
dom, is regarded both in ProA^erbs and in the legal
doctrine of retribution as earthly and of this world,
is generally admitted; the question, however, is
whether the teaching of Proverbs is limited thereto.
Ewald, in particular, asserts that Proverbs teaches a
happy life in another world. Upon the whole it is
worthy of note that the Proverbs make mention of
Sheol (Rephaim), only when speaking of the final lot of
the wicked. It is thither that the paths of the adul-
teress lead (Prov 2: 18; 5: 5; 7: 27; 9: 18); while not
a word is said of the passing of the pious and the
Avise, also, into Sheol, the Hades of the New Testa-
ment. The Book of Proverbs draws, so to speak, a
veil over the state of the righteous in Hades.
The doctrine of the Hhokhma has often been desig-
REALIZATION OF THE MORAL GOOD. 325
nated as pure Eudemonism, /. e. as teaching that wis-
dom and righteousness are but means for the attain-
ment of prosperity as the proper object of Kfe. On
the contrary, however, it could not be more distinctly
stated than it is in the Book of Proverbs, that it is
wrong to make earthly prosperity, in and for itself,
the object of life (Prov. 11: 4, 28; 15: 16; etc.). The
beautiful passage, Prov. 30: 7-9, may especially be
mentioned, as showing how earthly prosperity is ever
to be prized only in proportion as it is accompanied
by godly and righteous conduct.
[Analysis: 1) Stress is laid on the doctrine of retribution; 2) is
the teaching of Proverbs limited to earthly retribution?; 3) the
teaching concerning Sheol ; 5) earthly prosperity is not the true
object of life.]
§ 244. Realization of Moral Good in the various Social
Spheres.
Moral good is not realized in individual life alone,
but also in the various social spheres.
1) Domestic happiness is the chief of those good
things with which the fear of God is rewarded. Both
the conjugal and the parental relations are regarded by
the Hhokhma with a moral and religious seriousness,
the like of which is not found in any one of the na-
tions of antiquity. Marriage is designated as a cove-
nant of God (Prov. 2: 17). "House and riches are an
inheritance from fathers : but a prudent wife is from
the Lord" (Prov. 19: 14), /. e. marriages are made in
heaven. No sin is more frequently or more sharply
reproved in Proverbs than the violation of conjugal
fidelity (Prov. 2: 12-22; 5: 1-23; 6: 23-35; 7: 1-27).
With this corresponds the appreciation of the bless-
ing of children. Hence it is expressly required that
children be carefully trained, by strict discipline and
326 WISDOM.
relio'ioiis and moral instruction. Parents are also
warned to begin the instruction of their children be-
times, and thus to retain them for their whole life. A
complete statement of the educational precepts given
in Proverbs would here be out of place. It may suffice
to point out how earnestly diligence is insisted on, and
sloth branded as a contemptible thing (6: 6-11; 10:
26; 15: 19; 19: 15, 24; 20: 4, 13; 26: 13-16); how
temperance (13: 25; 23: 19-21) and chastity are re-
quired, and temptations to unchastity warned
against (7: 5-23; 23: 26-28). The education oigir/s
is never separably treated of in Proverbs. It is a self-
evident assumption that they too were instructed in
the law. The end contemplated in female education
may be perceived from the description of the excellent
woman in Prov. 31: 10-31, and the jjassages Prov.
11: 16, 22; 12: 4: etc. Modesty and moral tact are
the ornaments of woman (Prov. 11: 22).
2) Political life and well-ordered civil institutions are re-
garded as component parts of moral good. The view
that kings and judges are the organs of the Divine
government of the world, and vice- regents of the
Supreme Euler and Judge, and that as such they are
appointed to administer justice, especially by execut-
ing severe judgment upon the wicked, forms the
foundation of a whole series of proverbs (Prov. 16:
12-15; 20: 8, 26; etc.). All political wisdom is com-
prised in the saying: "Righteousness exalteth a na-
tion, but sin is a reproach to any people" (Prov.
14:34).
[Analysis: 1) Stress is laid upon domestic happiness; 2) mar-
riage is of God; 3) conjugal infidelity sharply reproved; 4) children
are to be carefully trained; 5) special virtues are to beinculcated;
6) education of girls ; 7) the secret of success of a nation.]
CHAPTEB IV.
THE ENIGMAS OF HUMAN LIFE.
§ 245. The Enigmas Themselves.
That which above all else gave rise to the struggle
between faith and doubt, Avas the perception that the
actual course of events did not harmonize with the
postulate of the doctrine of retribution,— th^t the God
w^ho judges righteously did not make His righteous
judgment evident in what befell either nations or in-
dividuals. It is on this account that Job is so often
reproached by his friends for resembling the wicked
by disputing the Divine retribution. While the per-
j)lexities caused by the fortunes of nations were solved
for the prophets by the view afforded them of the
consummation of the Divine kingdom,— of the day of
the Lord w^hen judgment and deliverance should
manifest the Divine righteousness,— it Avas concerning
the enigmas of individual life, presented hj the pros-
perity of the wicked and the calamities of the godly,
that the reflecting mind of the Old Testament sages
struggled to obtain light. Several of the Psalms
dAvell on this matter, Avhich is the special subject of
the whole Book of Job.
[Analysis: 1) The doctrine of retribution does not seem to be
actually carried out in this life; 2) the case of nations could be
explained; 3) but the enigmas of the individual life not so clear;
4) the problem discussed in the Book of Job.]
§ 246. The Struggle to solve the Enigmas relating to this
Subject in the Psalms.
in those Psalms which relate to the contradiction
existing between the moral Avorth of an individual
328 THIS SUBJECT K\ TUE PSALMS.
and his external circumstances, we generall}' fiiid
that the knot is not untied, but simply cut. The
wicked who think themselves so secure will surely per-
ish, and in prayer the Psalmist surmounts every
hindrance. See especially the supplicatory Psalms
(3, 4, 5, 7, etc.). Another special feature is to be re-
marked in those Psalms in Avliich that judgment upon
his enemies which the Psalmist confidently entreats
is also in measure announced— the so-called impreca-
tory Psalms, of which Ps. 59, 69, and 109 are the
strongest. Instead of being shocked at them, we need
simply to understand them. And it is easy to per-
ceive that what we find in them is no private feeling
of anger venting itself in curses, but that they are
the product of a zeal for the honor of that God who
is attacked in His servants (Ps. 69: 9).
The New Testament itself knows of no other final
reconciliation of the contradiction introduced into
the world by the great existence of evil than that
which is accomplished by judgment. But the differ-
ence between the two Testaments lies in the circum-
stance that the Old Testament, referring, as far as
retribution is concerned, exclusively to this life, does
not afford the same scope for the Divine long-suf-
fering as the New, and must demand an actual and
adequate sentence, an infliction of judgment upon
the ungodly within the limits of earthl}^ existence.
The solution furnished by certain Psalms is not a
dogmatic one, /. e. no doctrine actually leading be-
yond the limits of ^losaism is arrived at. It is rather
a solution which is subjective and persona/. The com-
munion with God to which the Psalmist has been ad-
mitted asserts itself with such strength, that he not
only finds therein his full compensation for the pros-
perity of the wicked, but, rising for the moment
ENIGMAS IN THE BOOK OF JOB. 329
superior to death and Sheol, knows himself to be in-
separably united to God. The first chief passage in
which the feeling of saving and indissoluble union
with God is poured forth is Ps. 16. To this feeling we
must certainly refer such passages as Ps. 48: 14 and
68: 20, which some have also interpreted of deliver-
ance from death in the New Testament sense. In Ps.
73: 26, the Psalmist expresses his confidence that
even if his heart fails in death, his communion with
God cannot be dissolved.
Still, even in these passages, we have no direct word
from God for this hope to lean on; they express
rather the postulate of faith, that for the just, exist-
ence must issue in glory, and in the permanent pos-
session of communion with God. The seals of death and
Sheol remain as yet unbroken in the Old Testament,
as is so strongly and incisively expressed in Ps. 88.
The conquerer of death and Hades had not yet come.
The question whether the announcement of the resur-
rection of the dead made by the prophets finds an
echo in the Psalms, has been variously ansAvered. We
cannot quote Ps. 90: 3, nor 141: 7 in favor of the af-
firmative view, as has been done by some, but pos-
sibly Ps. 22: 25-31 may refer to the resurrection.
[Analysis: 1) The Psalms do not solve the problem; 2) lathe
supplicatory Psalms the knot is simply cut; 3) the imprecatory
Psalms; 4) the way the N. T. solves the problem; 5) the differ-
ence between the views of the two Testaments; 6) the solution of
the Psalms are subjective and personal; 7) teaching of Ps. 16: 8—
11; 8) of Ps. 48: 14; 68: 20; 9) of Ps. 73: 26; 10) of Ps. 88; 11)
no positive reference to the resurrection in the Psalms.]
§ 247. Solution of the Enigmas in the Book of Job.
All the enigmas with which Israelitish wisdom was
occupied are discussed in the Book of Job, and every
solution produced upon Old Testament soil is at-
330 WISDOM.
tempted. A fragment of Old Testament life is brought
before us, and it is shown b}^ Job's example, liow a
righteous man may fall into such grievous tempta-
tion as to threaten his trust in God with shipwreck,
and how the struggles of faith at last result in vic-
tory. This book has often been contrasted with
Mosaism, as coming to a formal rupture with the
doctrine of retribution. This is, however, far from
being the case, — the Mosaic doctrine of retribution
being, on the contrary, expressly confirmed by the
issue, viz. the abundant compensation of the hero of
the book for his sufferings.
This book teaches us to recognize a four-fold purpose
in human suffering. 1) There is a penal suffering ysith
which God visits the ungodly. This proposition is
discussed in manifold aspects b}^ the three friends of
Job (see especially ch. 8; 15: 20-35; ch. 18 and 20),
and at last conceded by Job himself (27: 11-23. 2)
There is a /7/V//7^ cAas//5e/we/7f imposed upon all men,
which is necessarily due to the natural impurity and
sinfulness of human nature, and must accordingh^
be borne by the righteous also. This is the doctrine
which Eliphaz advances in his first speech, in explana-
tion of the calamities of Job (ch. 4), where in verses
12-16, he refers to a revelation imparted to him in a
night vision. 3) There is also a special testing and
purifying of the righteous imposed upon them by the
love of God, for the purpose of deliv^ering them from
secret pride, of leading them to humble and penitent
self-knowledge, and thus insuring to them the Divine
favor. This is the doctrine which Elihu brings for-
ward in Job 33: 14-30; 36: 5-15. 4) There is a suffer-
ing which is designed to manifest the triumph of faith and
the fidelity of the righteous. This it is which was the
The doctrine of immortality. 331
immediate object of Job's afflictions, as already al-
luded to in the prologue of the book, and evidenced to
all in the epilogue.
But while the Book of Job thus offers a key to these
afflictions of the righteous, it at the same time fur-
nishes reasons for believing in the righteous providence
of God, from the consideration of His character and
His dominiom over nature. 1) Divine providence
may be inferred from the character of God. The funda-
mental thought of the profound speech of Elihu (Job
34: 10 sqq.) is: God by reason of His power over the
world, can never be unjust. God cannot be unjust to
that which He Himself called into existence, and
maintains therein. He so directs the lot of individu-
als and nations, that right is also at last made mani-
fest. 2) But Divine Providence may also be inferred
from God's dominion over nature. This proposition is
already prepared for in Job 28, the idea being there
carried out that man, though incapable of becoming-
possessed of the Divine wisdom itself, is yet able to
recognize its traces in the whole economy of nature,
and may therefore, with regard to the Divine appoint-
ment of human life, resign himself to, and fall back
on, the fear of God. This point of view is especially
maintained by Elihu in 36: 22 and in that fine pas-
sage 37: 21-24 (a storm is supposed to be approach-
ing).
[Analysis: 1) The problem of the Book of Job; 2) the Mosaic
doctrine of retribution confirmed; 3) there is a fourfold purpose
in human suffering; 4) divine providence proved from the charac-
ter ol God; 5) and from His dominion over nature.]
§ 248. The Doctrine of Immortality in the Book of Job.
The question which still remains to be discussed is,
what position does the Book of Job, which keeps
332 WISDOM.
the attention directed to the state of man after
death, beyond any Book of the Old Testament, oc-
cupy with regard to the </oc/r//7e of immortalityl The
notion that its direct purpose is to prove the doctrine
of the immortaUty of the human soul, rests upon
a misconception. It is, however, true that in it
are deposited the presuppositions of the hope of
eternal life. A remarkable progress is in this respect
manifested in this book. See Job 7: 7-9; 10: 20-22;
14: 7-15; 16: 18-22; 19: 25-27. But that final solu-
tion of all enigmas, that the sufferings of this present
world are not Avorthy to be compared with the glory
that shall be revealed in the children of God, was not
discovered by Job, nor hj the Old Testament in
general, ^j reason of the constant connection exist-
ing between revealed knowledge and the facts of rev-
elation, a belief in eternal life which should be truly
stable could not arise until the acquisition of eternal
life, as faith in Him who in His own person overcame
death and brought life and immortality to light, and
who through His redeeming work has perfected also
the saints of the Old Testament (Heb. 11: 40).
[Analysis: 1) The object of the Book of Job has often been mis
understood; 2) the doctrine of immortality clearly taught; 3)
but still imperfectly ; 4) the teaching of the N. T.]
CHAPTER V.
THE SOLUTION ATTEMPTED IN THE BOOK OF ECCLE-
SIASTES.
§ 249. Standpoint of this Book. Inquiry concerning Divine
Retribution and Immortality.
The Book of Koheleth or Ecc/esiasfes forms the con-
clusion of the canonical Old Testament Hhokhma.
Its standpoint may be briefly designated as that of
resignation— an abandonment of the attempt to com-
prehend the Divine government of the world, the
reality of which to fait/i, it however, firmly holds.
This book is equally misunderstood when its author
is credited with a knowledge bej^ond the limits of
the Old Testament, and especially with the knowledge
of eternal life, etc., and when he is regarded as a
fatalist. or an Ej)icurean. So little does this book
preach infidelit}^, that its author does not surrender
even one of the doctrines transmitted to him. That
there is a Divine government of the world, that there
is a righteous retribution, faith may not question : it
is the how of these matters that man is unable to
comprehend. Man is not able to understand the re-
sult produced by the God-ordained course of the
world. This appears especially in respect to Divine
Retribution. Experience is seen by the author of the
Book of Ecclesiastes to be always at variance with
the adoption of this doctrine. To this is added the
sad experience of the impunit}^ of the wicked. Still all
this must not destroy the postulate of faith (Eccles.
8: 12, 13).
334 WISDOM.
With reference to the question whether Ecclesiastes
teaches the immorialify of man, we answer that the
author of this book distinctly assumes that there is a
future retribution. Towards the close of the book, the
author, dismissing all the doubts resulting from
natural observation, positively expresses (Eccles. 12:
7) the tenet that the spirit of man returns to God
who gave it; and in 12: 14 compared with 11: 9,
that God will bring ever\^ secret thing to judgment,
whether it be good or whether it be evil. We cannot,
however, determine from the book the author's exact
view of the state after death, nor decide in what sense
he teaches a future judgment.
[Analysis: 1) The standpoint of Ecclesiastes; 2) the author is
neither a fatalist nor an Epicurean; 3) he does aot preach infideli-
ty; 4) the questions at issue; 5) he teaches a future retribution.]
§ 250. Moral Teaching of the Book of Ecclesiastes.
Conclusion.
The moral teaching imparted in this book corre-
sponds with the standpoint of resignation which it
occupies. Prudence, moderation in all things, is the
quality to be most urgently recommended. The glad-
ness which imparts vigor to the inner life is, however,
not found in the Preacher. In patient composure, the
wise man does at all times just that Avhich is season-
able and commits the issue to God. The frame of
mind possessed by the Avise man in the midst of all
this composure is shown in Eccles. 7: 2—4. Ecclesias-
tes may be called a book of Avorldly sadness, not the
sadness of one utterly sick of life, but of one who,
though weary, does not suffer the stimulus of eternity
to be plucked out of his heart, and who has rescued
his fear of God out of the ruins of his earthly hopes
CONCLUSION. 335
and schemes. The dialectics of the Book of Eccle-
siastes, with their mainly negative result, forms a
transition from the Old to the New Testament. For from
a persuasion of the vanity of all earthly good, arises
the longing after the eternal and saving blessings of
the New Testament, and the desire for the coming
of that immutable kingdom of God announced by
prophecy, in which the inquiries of Old Testament and
all other wisdom have found their enduring object.
In no other book does the Old Testament appear so
much as in the Book of Ecclesiastes, as "that which
is becoming old and waxing aged and nigh unto van-
ishing away" (Heb. 8: 13).
[Analysis: 1) The moral teaching of the Book of Ecclesiastes; 2)
the book of sad resignation ; 3) the book of transition from the
Old to the New Testament.]
SELECT LITERATURE
OF
BIBLICAL THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT.
1. OF BIBLICAL THEOLOGY IN GENERAL.
1. Beck, J. T. ChristUcheLehrwissenschaft. Stuttgart, 1841.
2. Bennett, W. H. The Theology of the Old Testament.
New York, 1896.
3. Briggs, C. A. Biblical Study, etc. Pp. 367—405. New
York, 1883.
4. Buddeus. J. F. Historia Ecclesiastica Veteris Testa-
menti, etc. Ed. 3. 2 Bde. 1726, 1729,
A work of permanent value.
5. Foster, R. V. Old Testament Studies. Chicago, 1890.
6. Glassius, Sal. Philologia Sacra,, etc. Leipsic, 1705.
This edition by Olearius is the best.
7. Haevernick, H. A. C. Vorlesungen ueber die Theol. des
A. T. 2nd ed. 1863.
8. Hofmann, J. Chr. K. Der Schriftheweis. 3 Bde. 2. Aufl.
Noerdlingen 1857—1860.
9. Kayser, A. Die Theol. des A. T. Strassburg, 1886.
10. Koehler, A. Biblische Geschichte des Alten Testaments.
2 Bde. Erlangen 1877—89.
11. Luz, S. Bibl. Dogmatik. 1877.
12. Oehler, G. F. Theology of the Old Testament. Edited
by Day. New York, 1883. Third German edition. Stutt-
gart, 1891.
13. Piepenbring, C. Theology of the Old Testament. Transl.
from the French. New Y^ork, 1893.
14. Riehm, E. Alttestamentliche Theologie, 1890.
15. Roos, M. F. Einleitung in die biblischen Geschichte des
Alten Testaments, etc. Reprinted. Stuttgart, 1876.
16. Schlottraann, Konstantin. Kompendium der bibl. Theo-
logie des A. und N. T. 2nd ed., Leipsic, 1894.
17. Schultz, F. W. Theologie des Alten Testaments. In
Zoeckler's Handbuch der theologische'n Wissenschaften.
Noerdlingen, 1889.
SELECT LITERATURE. 337
18. Schultz, Herm. Alttestamentliche Theologie. Fifth ed.
189H. Trausl. of the 4th ed. into English. 2 vols. Edin-
burgh, 1892.
Valuable articles on special topics will be found in the Dic-
tionaries and Encyclopaedias edited b.vFairbairn, Hamburger,
Herzog-Plitt-Hauck, Kitto-Alexander, M'Clintock-Strong,
Riehm, Schaff-Herzog, Schenkel, Smith-Hackett-Abbot, and
Winer.
2. OF THE ANGELS.
1. Barry, Alfred. Articleon Ans^eJsm Smith's Bible Dictionary.
Compare especially the full literature given by Hackett and
Abbot, covering the whole subject (Jewish notions, Early
Fathers, Representation in Christian Art, "Angel of Jeho-
vah", Modern works).
2. Duke, H. H. TAe iJo/j^ Azi^e/s; their nature and employ-
ments as recorded in the Word of God. London, 1875.
3. Dunn, L. R. The Angels of God. New York 1881.
4. Godet, F. Studies on the Old Testament. Third edition.
New York, 1884.
5. Hengstenberg, E. W. The Books of Moses and Egypt.
Andover, 1843.
6. Hofmann, J. Chr. K. Der Schriftbeweis. \o\. 1.^14:— ^0^.
7. Kurtz, J. H. Die Ehen derSoehne Gottes, etc. Berlin, 1857.
8. Ode, J. Commentarius de Angelis. Traj. ad Rhen., 1739.
An exhaustive work of more than 1100 quarto pages.
9. Whately, R. Scripture Revelations concerning Good
and Evil Angels. Philadelphia, 1856.
Seethe various Lexicons on Angels, Cherubim, Gabriel, Mi-
chael, Seraphim. Angel of Jehovah, etc.
See works on Biblical Theology and Systematic Theology.
The literature of this subject is immense.
3. OF CREATION.
1. Birks, T. R. The Scripture Doctrine of Creation, etc.
New York, 1875.
2. Buddensieg, R. Die Assyrischen Ausgrabungen und das
Alte Testament. Heilb., 1880.
3. Calderwood, Henry. The Relation of Science and Religion.
Pp. 13—323. New York, 1881.
4. Dawson, J. W. Nature and the Bible. Pp. 257. New
York, 1875.
5. Dawson, J. W. The Origin of the World, etc. New York,
1877.
6. Delitzsch, Franz. Commentary on Genesis. 4th edition,
2 vols. New York 1889. Facile princeps.
338 SELECT LITERATURE.
7. Godet, F. Biblical Studies on the Old Testament. New
York, 1884.
8. Grant, P. W. The Bible Record of Creation True for
every Age. 1877.
9. Guyot, A. Creation, etc. New York, 1884.
10. Kurtz, J. H. The Bible and Astronomy. Philadelphia,
1861. (Fifth German Edition, 1865).
11. Lewis T. The Six Days of Creation, etc. Pp.416. New
York, 1879.
12. Luthardt, C. E. Fundamental Truths of Christianity.
Edinburgh, 1869. •
13. McCaul, A. The Mosaic Record of Creation. In Aids to
Faith. London, 1861.
14. Pratt, John H. Scripture and Science not at Variance.
Seventh edition. London, 1872.
15. Reusch, F. H. Nature and the Bible. 1886.
16. Schultz, F, W. Die Schoepfungsgeschichte nach Natur-
wissenschaft und Bibel. Gotha, 1865.
17. Zoeekler, O. Die Urgeschichte der Erde und des Men-
schen. Guetersloh, 1868.
18. Zoeekler, O. Geschichte der Beziehungen zw. Theol. und
Naturwissenscbaft, etc. 2 vols. Guetersloh, 1876—79.
4. OF GOD.
1. Alexander, W. Lindsay. The Connection and Harmony
of the Old and New Testaments. London, 1853.
Also the same author's Articles in Kitto (Alexander's edi-
tion).
2. Ewald, H. Revelation. Its Nature and Record. Edin-
burgh.
3. Ewald H. Old and New Testament Theology. Edin-
burgh,
4. Hengstenberg, E. "W. Dissertations on the Genuineness
of the Pentateuch. 2 vols. Edinburgh, 1847.
5. Hoelemann, H. G. Bihelstudien. Vol. 1. Leipsic, 1861.
6. Noeldecke. Ueber den Gottesnamen El. Berlin, 1880.
7. Oehler, G. T. Articles on Elohim and Jehovah in Herzog,
Grst edition. |Re-written by Delitzch for the second edition.
.8. Schmieder. Betrachtungen Ueber das hohepriesterliche
Gebet. 1848.
*'A book which is not known so well as it deserves to be"
(Oehler).
9. Wright, W. A. Article on JeZzo Fa 7i in Smith's Bible Dictio-
nary.
See works on Old Testament Theology already cited, and
works on Systematic Theology.
SELECT LITERATURE. 339
O. CRITICISM.
1. Baudissin, W. Studien zur sew it. Religionsgescbichte.
1876—78.
2. Baxter, W. L. Sanctuary and SacrMce. A Keply to Well-
hausen. London, 1895.
3. Binnie, W. The Proposed Reconstruction of Old Testa-
ment History. Third edition. Edinburgh, ] 880.
4. Bissel, E. C. The Pentateuch, its Origin and Structure.
New York, 1885.
This volume contains a list of some 3000 works bearing
on the Criticism of the 0. T.
5. Boehl, E. Zum Gesetz u. zum Zeugniss. Wien, 1883.
6. Boyce, W. B. The Higher Criticism and the Bible. Lon-
don, 1880.
7. Cave, Alfred. Inspiration of the Old Testament. 2nded.
London, 1888.
8. Curtiss, S. S. The Levitical Priests. Edinburgh, 1877.
9. Douglas, G. C. M. Isaiah One and His Book One. New
York, 1895.
10. Driver, S. K. Introduction to the Literature of the O. T.
New York, 1891.
11. Ellicott, C. J. Christus Comprobator. London, 1891.
12. Girdlestone, E. B. The Foundations of the Bible. Lon-
don.
13. Green, W. H. Moses and the Prophets. New York, 1883.
14. Green, W. H. The Hebrew Feasts. New York, 1885.
15. Green, W. H. The Higher Criticism of the Pentateuch.
New York, 1895.
16. Green, W. H. The Unity of the Book of Genesis. New
York, 1895.
17. Koenig, F. E. The Religious History of Israel. Edin-
burgh.
18. Koenig, E Eiuleitung in das Alte Testament. 1893.
19. Kuenen, A. The Religion of Israel, etc. 3 vols. London,
1874-75.
20. Kurtz, J. H. History of the Old Covenant. 3 vols. 1859.
21. Leathes, Stanley. The Law in the Prophets. London,
1891.
22. Lex Mosaica. The Law of Moses and the Higher Criticism.
London 1894.
Contains 14 important articles by as many conservative
writers.
23. Lias, J. J. Principles of Biblical Criticism. London, 1893.
3-iO SELECT LITERATURE.
24. Robertson, James. The Early Religion of Israel. Edin-
burgh.
25. Rupprecht, E. Des Ratsels Losung. 1895.
26. Schrader, E. The Cuneiform Inscriptions and the Old
Testament. 2 vols. London, 1885—86.
27. Schmauk, T. E. The Negative Criticism and the Old
Testament. 1894.
28. Stebbins. A Study of the Pentateuch. Boston, 1881.
29. Smith, W. Robertson. The Old Testament in the Jewish
Ch urch. New York, 1881 .
30. Watts, Robert. The Newer Criticism and the Analogy of
Faith. Third edition. Edinburgh, 1882.
31. Yos, G. The Mosaic Origin of the Pentateuchal Codes.
1886.
32. Zahn, A. Das Deuteronomium . Guetersloh, 1890.
6. OF PROPHECY.
1. Baudissin, W. Die Gesch. des Alt. Priestertbums, Leipsic,
1889.
2. Boehl, E. Christologie des Alten Testamentes, etc. Wien,
1882.
3. Briggs, Charles, A. Messianic Prophecy. New York, 1886.
4. Dalman, G. H. Der leidende und der sterbende Messias
der Synagoge. 1888.
5. Davidson, John. Discourses on Prophecy, etc. (Warbur-
tonian Lecture). Fourth edition. London, 1839.
6. Delitzsch, Franz. Die bihl. prophet. Theologie, etc. Leip-
sic, 1845.
7. Delitzsch Franz. Mes-si/? /7 ic PropAecj^. Translated by Prof.
Curtiss. Edinburgh, 1880
8. Delitzsch, Franz. Old Testament History of Redemption.
Edinburgh, 1881.
9. Delitzsch, Franz. Messianic Prophecies in Historical Suc-
cession. Translated by Samuel Ives Curtiss. Edinburgh,
1891.
10. Diestel, L. Gescbichte des A. T. in der Christ. Kirche.
Jena, 1869.
11. Duhm, B. Die Theologie der Propheten. Bonn, 1875.
12. Fairbairn, P. Prophecy, viewed in respect to its dis-
tinctive nature, etc. Second edition, 1866.
13. Gloag, Baton J. The Messianic Prophecies. Baird Lect-
ures for 1879. Edinburgh, 1879.
14. Green, William Henry. Moses and the Prophets. New
York, 1883.
SELECT LITERATURE. 341
15. Hengsteiiberg, E. W. Christolo^y of the Old Testament,
etc. 4 vols. Edinburgh, 1854, 56, 58.
16. Hofmann, J. C. K. Weissaguug u. Erfuellung, etc. 2 vols.
Noerdlingen, 1841 — 44.
17. Kirkpatriek, A. F. The Doctrine of the Prophets, New
York, 1893.
18. Koenig, Edward. Der Offenharungshegriff des A. T.
Leipsic, 1882.
19. Kuenen, A. Prophets and Prophecy in Israel. 1877.
20. Kueper. Das Prophetenthum des Alten Bundes. 1870.
21. Orelli, C. von. The Old Testament Prophecy of the Con-
summation of God's Kingdom, etc. Edinburgh, 1885.
22. Riehm, E. Messianic Prophecy, etc. Edinburgh, 1875.
23. Smith, J. Pye. The Scripture Testimony to the Messiah,
etc. 2 vols. Fifth edition. Edinburgh, 1859.
24. Smith, K. Payne. Prophecy a Preparation for Christ.
Bampton Lectures for 1869. London 1870.
25. Smith, W. R. The Prophets of Israel. New York, 1882.
7. OF BIBLICAL PSYCHOLOGY.
1. Beck, J. T. Outlines of Biblical Psychology. Third Edi-
tion. Edinburgh, 1877.
2. Delitzsch, Franz. ASystemof Biblical Psychology. Second
edition. Edinburgh, 1869.
3. Goeschel. Der Mensch nach Leib, Seele und Geist, etc.
Leipsic, 1856.
4. Haussmann, J. G. F. Die Biblische Lehre vom Menschen.
1848.
5. Heard, J. B. The Tripartite Nature of Man. Fifth edi-
tion. Edinburgh, 1885.
6. Laidlaw, John. The Bible Doctrine of Man. Seventh
series of Cunningham Lectures. Edinburgh, 1883.
7. Rudloff. Die Lehre vom Menschen nach Geist, Seele, und
Leib. 1858.
8. Wendt. Die Begriffe Fleisch und Geist im bibl. Sprach-
gebrauch. Gotha, 1878.
9. Zockler, Otto. Die Lehre vom Urstand des Menschen,
etc. Guetersloh, 1879.
8. OF THE SABBATH.
1, Cox, Robert. The Literature of the Sabbath Question.
2 vols. Edinburgh, 1865.
2. Gilfillan, James. T/?e ♦S'aftZ^atZ? viewed in the light of Rea-
son, Revelation, and History, with sketches of its Literature.
New York, 1862,
342 SELECT LITERATURE.
3. Hessey, J. A. Sunday. Its Origin, History, and Present
Obligation. Bampton Lectures for 1860. Fourth edition.
London, 3880.
9. OF SACRIFICES.
1. Baehr, K. C. W. T. Symbolik des Mos. Kultus. 2 Bde.
Heidelberg, 1837, 39. A second edition of first volume ap-
peared in 1874,
2. Cave, Alfred. Tbe Scriptural Doctrine ofSacriSce, Edin-
burgh, 1877.
3. Delitzsch, F. Commentary on Hebrews. 2 vols. Edin-
burgh, 1882.
4. Dillraann, A. Die Buchev Exodus und Leviticus. Leipsic,
1880.
5. Faber, G. S. A treatise on the Origin of Expiatory Sa-
criSce. London, 1827.
6. Hengstenberg, E. W. Tbe SacriSces of Holy Scripture.
Pp. 367—409 of Commentary on Ecclesiastes with other
Treatises. Philadelphia, 1860.
7. Hengstenberg, E. W. Egypt and tbe Books of Moses.
Edinburgh, 1845.
8. Jukes, A. Tbe Law of tbe Offerings, etc. Boston. No
date.
9. Keil, C. F. Handbook of Biblical Archeology. Trans-
lated from the German. 2 vols. Edinburgh.
10. Kliefoth, Th. Liturgische Abbandlungen. Vol. 4. 1. Der
alt-und neut. Cultus. Schwerin, 1858.
11. Kueper. Das Priesterthum des A. Bundes. Berlin, 1866.
12. Kurtz, J. H. Sacrificial Worship of tbe Old Testament.
Edinburgh, 1863.
13. Magee, Wm. On Atonement and Sacritice. London, 1856.
14. Outrani. Two Dissertations on SacriSces, etc. Translat-
ed by John Allen. London, 1828.
15. Philippi, F. A. Kircblicbe Glaubenslehre. lY. 2. Gue-
tersloh, 1870.
16. Wangemann. Das Opfer nacb d. h. Schrift, etc. 2 Bde.
Berlin, 1866.
See the various articles on this topic in the Lexicons of
Herzog, Kitto, Riehm, Smith, and Winer.
10. OF SIN.
1. Mueller, Julius. The Christian Doctrine of Sin. Translat
ed from the Fifth Edition of theGerman. 2 vols. Edinburgh,
1868. Sixth German Edition. 2 vols. Stuttgart 1877.
2. Philippi, F. A. Die Lehre von der Suende. In third vol-
ume of his "Kirchliche Glaubenslehre", pp. 1—250. Third
edition. Guetersloh, J 884.
SELECT LITERATURE. 313
3. Tholuck, A. Die Lehre von der Sueiide u. v. Versoehner.
9th edition, 3870.
4. Tulloch, John. The Christian Doctrine of Sin. New York,
(1S76).
Compare works on Systematic Theology.
11. OF THE STATE AFTER DEATH.
1. Alger, Wm. R. A Critical History oftlie Doctrine of a
Future Life. Tenth Edition. With a complete Bibliography
by Ezra Abbot. Boston, 1878.
2. Boettcher. De inferis rebusque post mortem futuris.
Dresden, 1846.
The literature of the subject up to the year 1844 is given in
this learned work.
3. Cremer, H. Beyond the Grave. With an Introduction by
A. A. Hodge, New York, 1886.
4. Goeschel, C. F. Der Mensch nach Leib, Seele, und Geist,
diesseits undjenseits. Leipsic, 1856.
5. Humphrey, W. G. Tlie Doctrine of a Future State. Hul-
sean Lectures for 1849. London, 1850.
6. Loescher, V. E. Auserlesene Sammlung der hesten und
neueren Schriften vomZustand der Seele naclidem Tode.
Dresden, 1735.
7. Luthardt, C. E. Die Lehre v. d. letzten Dingen. 3 Aufl.
Leipsic, 1885.
8. Perowne, J, J. S. Immortality. Hulsean Lectures for
1868. London, 1869.
9. Rinck, H. W. Vom Zustand nach dem Tode. Second edi-
tion. Ludwigsburg and Basel, 1866.
10. Rudlofif. Die Lehre vom Menschen, etc. Second edition.
Gotha, 1863.
11. Spiess, Edm. Entwicl^elungsgeschichte der Vorstellungen
vom Zustande nach dem Tode. Jena, 1877.
12. Whately, R. View of the Scripture Revelations concern-
ing a Future State. London, 1870.
See also w^orks on Biblical Psychology, on Eschatology,
and on Systematic Theology.
12. OF THE TABERNACLE AND THE TEMPLE.
1. Atwater, E. E. The Sacred Tabernacle of the Hebrews.
New York, 1875.
2. Bannister, J. T. The Temples of the Hebrews, etc. Lon-
don, 1866.
3. Edersheim, Alfred. The Temple. Its Ministry and Services
as they were in the time of Christ. London. No date.
344 SELECT LITERATURE.
4. Keil, C. F. Der Tempel Solomo's. Dorpat, 1839.
5. Rig:geubach. Die Mosaiscbe Stiftsbuette. Second edition,
1867.
13. OF THE WISDOM LITERATURE.
1. Job. See the Commentaries of Cook, Cox, Davidson, De-
litzsch, Dillmaim and Zoeckler.
2. Proverbs. See the Cozzjzaezitaries of Delitzsch, Plumptre,
and Zoeckler.
3. Ecclesiastes. See the Commentaries of Cox, Delitzsch, Gins-
burg, Wright and Zoeckler.
INDEX.
Abaddon and death, 113—116
Abel, 11
Abraham, 45; trial of, 47—49,
166
Adonai, 66, 70
Adultery, sin of, 146 ; trial of
suspected, 147, 194, 195
Ahab, 232
Ahaz, 241, 242
Altar, the, 159 ; meaning of,161
Amon, 243
Amos, 235, 291
Analogy of faith, 28
Angel of the Lord, doctrine of,
88—91
Angelology, Mosaic, 91, 92;
prophetic, 256—258
Angels, fall of, 39 n.; doctrine
of, 256—258; office of, 257,
258; orders of, 258, 259; evil,
262
Aninia and Atiitnus, 102, 103
Animal offerings, 168; ritual of,
171-174
Anthropology, 98 — 111
Anthropomorphisms, 74
Anthropopathies, 77
Apocalyptic literature, 252
Ark of the Covenant, 159; mean-
ing of, 162
Athaliah, 240, 241
Atonement, instrument of, 162,
173; day of, 162, 186; ritual
of, 188—190; signification of,
191; vicarious, 192, 193
Attributes of God, 69—77
Auberlen, 31
Augustine, 27, 123
Avenging of blood, 150
Azazel, 188—190, 192, 262
Baal, 232
Balaam and Balak, 58
Bara, 79
Bath-Kol, 87
Beck, 31, 98
Bellarmine, 29
Bengel, 29
Biblical Archaeology, 19
Biblical Introduction, 18
Biblical Theology, see Theology
ofO. T.
Bigamy, 100
Blessing and curse. 129
Blood, use made'of, 136, 167,
172—174, 186, 187
Blood revenge, 140, 150
Body, soul and spirit, 101 — 104
Bottcher, 112
Book of the Law, 59n
Bondage, in time of Patriarchs,
151; regulations concerning,
152
Brazen serpent, 58
Burnt-offering, 176, 177
Caihites, 40—42
Canaan, occupation of, 60; land
of, 60, 61
Canaauites, 60
Candlestick, the golden, 158;
meaning of, 161
Canon of Old Testament, 21, 22
Cedar, 194
Chance, 82, 83
CJierem, 60, 180.
Cherubim, form of the, 163, 164,
258
Children, a blessing, 100; educa-
tion of by parents, 147, 148
Circumcision, historical origin
3J:6
of, 126; religious import of,
126, 127
Compassion of God, 129
Consciousness after death, 115
Corporal punishment, 142
Courts of Justice, 140, 141
Covenant, the Divine, 117; the
new, with Israel, 296, 297
Creation, account of, 37, 38;
doctrine of, 78, 79; design of
82
Crusius on prophecy, 274
Cuneiform inscriptions, 38
Curse and blessing, 128
Cuvier, 38
Cyrus, 249
Dalman, 66
Daniel, 248; book of, 265, 289;
four kingdoms of, 293
Darius, 250
Dates in prophecy, 283
David, reign of, 221; unites three
theocratic dignities, 222; re-
ligious development of, 222;
Psalms of, 223; form of wor-
ship under, 223
Day of the Lord, the, 172
Dead, kingdom of, 114—116
Death, is the consequence of sin,
112; state of man after, 113
—116, 324, 325; shall be de-
stroyed, 299
Decalogue, the, 123—125
Dedication, feast of, 208
Delitzsch, 31, 38, 98; on Satan,
40; on (Gen. 3: 15), 40; on
sacrifice, 40, 41
Demons, 71
Deuteronomy, 58, 59
Divination, prophecy differs
from, 279
Divine name, meaning of, 85, 86
Divine voice, meaning of, 87
Divorce, right of, 147
Dreams, 96
Ecclesiastes, stand-point of
book of, 333, 334; moral teach-
ing of book of, 334:
Egypt, Israel in, 53—56
£•?, 63, 64, 68
Election of Israel, 118, 119
El-Elyon, 63, 64
Elijah, 116, 232, 233
Elisha, 116, 232, 233
Eloah, 63, 64
EJoliim, 63—65, 68
El-Shaddai, 63, 66
Enoch, 41, 115, 116
Esarhaddon, 237
Esau, 50
Eternity oi God, 69
Evil, origin of, 39; moral and
physical, 83, 84
Ewald, 30
Exegesis, 20
Exodus, book of, 54
Ezekiel, 245, 246
Ezra, administration of, 251
Faith, of Abraham, 47, 48; be-
longs to sphere of heart, 104;
justification by, 267, 268; de-
finition of, 267
Faithfulness of God, 75, 76
Fall, the 39, 107 ■
Family inheritance, to be pre-
served, 149
Fasting, 181
Fatherhood of God, 118, 119
Feasts of the Jews, 197
Fermentation forbidden in of-
ferings, 168, 169
Flood, tradition of, 40—42
Food- offering, ritual of, 168,
169, 175
Free-will ofi'ering, 178
Gabler, 30
Gabriel, 259
Gedeliah, 247
Glory, divine, 86, 87
God, Mosaic idea of, 63; names
of, 63, 64: attributes of, 69—
77; eternity of, 69; immuta-
bility of, 69; unity of, 70; is
life, 69, 70; universality of the
idea of, 70n; Spirit of, 94, 95;
holiness of, 71, 72; omnipres-
INDEX,
34:7
ence of, 74; spirituality of, 74;
righteousness of, 75; faithful-
ness of, 75, 7G; jealousy of, 76,
77; relation of, to the world,
78, 79; meaning of name of,
85, 8G; sight of, 96, 97; fa-
therhood of, 118, 119; counte-
nance and glory of, 86, 87, 92;
penal justice of, 129
Guyot, 38
Haggai, 250
Ha3vernick, 31
Ham, 44
Hardening of heart, 84, 110
Heart, and soul, 1.02, 103; man
is characterized by his, 103;
hardening of the, 84, 110
Heathen, how related to. the
kingdom of God, 290; judg-
ment upon, 292,-294; shall
be admitted into the kingdom
ofGod, 302— 304
Heaven, host of, 256—258
Heiresses, laws concerning, 148
Hengstenberg, 30; on prophecy,
275
Herder, 30
Hereditary sin, 109
Hezekiah, 239, 242
Hhakkamim the, 228
Hherem, 60, 180
Hhokhma, see Wisdom
High Priest, office, 136; conse-
cration of, 136; makes atone-
ment for himself, 189; mean-
ing of dress of, 136
History of O. T., 19, 20, Pen-
tateuchal period, 37 — 61;
times of the Judges, 211 — 215;
of the undivided kingdom,
221—229; of the Ten Tribes,
230—238: of the kingdom of
Judah, 239—247; of exilic
and post-exilic times, 248 —
253
Hofmann, 31
Holiness of God, 71,72, 73
Holy Spirit, 94—96
Holy Place, 158, 161
Holy Place, Most, 159
Horns of altar, 160
Hosea, 235
Hosts, God of, 254—258
Human sacrifice, 166, 215
Immortality, 106; doctrine of in
book of Job, 331, 332; in book
of Ecclesiastes, 333, 334
Immutability of God, 69
Incense, altar of, 158; meaning
of, 161
lucense, 170
Inheritance, law of, 148, 149
Innocence, state of, 105, 106
Isaac, 50
Isaiah, 240, 241, 243
Israel in Egypt, 53 — 55
Israel, election of, the free act of
God's love, 118, 119; the ser-
vant of Jehovah, 121; judg-
ment upon, 290, 291; restora-
tion of, 295 — 298; new cove-
nant with, 296, 297
Jacob, 50, 51
Japheth, 44
Jealousy of God, 76, 77
Jehoahaz, 244
Jehoiakim, 241
Jehosaphat, 239, 240
Jehovah, pronunciation of, 66;
signification of, 67; age and
origin of name, 67: attributes
derived from name, 69, 70;
doctrine of Angel of, 88 — 91;
Sahaofh, 254—258
Jehu, 234; dynasty of, 234, 235
Jephthah, narrative of, 214
Jeremiah, 240, 244, 247
Jeroboam I, reign of, 229, 230
Jerusalem, destruction of, 246
Jezebel, 232
Joash, 241
Job, lessons of the book of, 330
Joel, 241. 291
Jonah, 235
Joseph, 52
Joshua, 53—61
Josiah, 239, 243
348
INDEX.
Jotham, 241
Jubilee, year of, 202; import of,
203
Judah, history of kingdom of,
239—247; captivity of, 246
Judge, office of , 211,212
Judges, times of, 211, 212; re-
ligious condition of times, 212
—215
Judgment, upon Israel, 290, 291;
upon the heathen nations,
292—294
Jus tcdionis, 141
Justice, the course of, 141, 142
Justification by faith, 267, 268
J^adosh, 71, 72
Kapporeth, the, 159; meaning
of, 162
Keil, 49
King, law concerning a, 142,
143; consecration of, 220
Kingdom of God, design of, 288,
289; how related to the hea-
then, 290
Kurtz, 49, 123
Lamech, 41, 42
Law and Gospel, 27, 28
Law, the, 122: tables of, 123—
125; ceremonial and moral,
264, 265
Laving on of hands, in offer-
ings, 186, 187, 191
Leper, purification of the, 190
Levirate Marriage, the, 149
Levites, the, represent the
people before Jehovah, 181;
official functions of, 131; con-
secration of, 132, 133; social
position of, 133; support of,
133, 183; during the times of
the Judges, 213; service of,
organized by David, 224
Life, origin of, 79, 80
Logos, the, 90
Lord of Hosts, doctrine of, 254
—258
Lynch law forbidden, 140
^alakh Jehovah, doctrine of,
88-91
Malachi, 252; book of, 265
Man, idea of, 98, 99; divine
image of, 98, 99; relation to
sex and race, 99, 100; unity of
100; constituent parts of, 101,
102; primitive state of, 105,
106; sin in, 106—111; state of,
after death, 113—116, 324,
325
Manasseh, 243
Marriage, 99; law of, 144; con-
tract, 145; bars to, 145; dis-
solution of, 146; the Levirate,
148; teaching of the Proverbs,
325
Megiddo, battle of, 244
MeJchizedek, 48, 49
Men ah em, 235
Mercy seat, 159
Messiah, the, yjromised in Gene-
sis, 40; in the Pentateuch, 306;
the son of man, 260; two-fold
view of coming of, 305; idea
of, defined, 306; development
of idea of, 307, 308; office and
work of, 309, 310; a suffering,
311; is the Branch, 309. 312
Messianic Psalms, 306, 307
Michael, 259
Miracle, doctrine of, 93, 94;
significance of, 232
Monogamy, 100
Monotheism, 54
Mosaism, 33, 37; subjects dis-
cussed under, 62
Moses, 53-59
Murder, to be avenged, 150, 195
Murphy, 38
l^ahhi, 218
Nahum, 245
Name of God, S6
Names of God, 63—69
Naming of a child, 127
Nations, register of, 44
Nature, Old Testament view of,
319;
Nazaritism, 181, 182
Nebuchadnezzar, 246
Nehemiah, 251, 252
Nephesh, 101, 113
INDEX.
349
New moon, 201
New Testament, how related to
Old, 25
Nineveh, destruction of, 244
Noah, 42, 43; covenant with,
43,44
Oath, the, 141, 155
Oehler, 32
Offering, see Sacrifice; idea of,
165; pre-Mosaic, 40, 41,43,
165, 166; material of the, 168
— 170; animal, 168; vegetable,
168, 169; burning of, 174;
various kinds of, 176; burnt,
176; peace, 177—179
Oil, 170
Old Testament, how related to
the New, 25
Old Testament Theology, see
Theology of O.T.
Omnipresence of God, 74
Omri, dynasty oi", 232
Original state of man, 105, 106
Paradise, 43
Parents, relation of, to chil-
dren, 147, 148
Passover, laws concerning, 204,
205; significance of, 205, 206
Patriarchs, history of, 47—52;
the twelve, 51
Peace-offering, name of, 177;
three kinds of, 178: ritual, 178;
signification of, 179, 180
Pentateuch, divisions of sacred
history of, 37; messianic idea
in, 306
Pentecost, significance of, 207
Perjury, 156
Personality of God, 69
Perspective of prophecy, 283
Pharaoh, 110
Philosophy of the Hebrews, 315
Picturing God, wrong, 73, 74
Piepenbring, 31
Plagues, 54, 128
Poetry, Hebrew, 227
Polygamy, 100, 145
Prediction, a characteristic of
prophecy, 281, 282
Pre-existence of the soul, 102
Preservation of the world, 80,
81
Priests, calling of the, 134; con-
secration of, 134, 135; main-
tenance of, 136
Primeval Age, history of, 37—
42
Primitive state of man, 105,
106
Prophecy, nature of, 270—280;
psychological definition in an-
cient times, 272; office of
prophecy, 281; in older Pro-
testant Theology, 273, 274;
an inward intuition, 276; il-
lustrated by analogies, 278;
differs from divination, 279;
prediction an element of, 281,
282; peculiarities of, 282—284;
fulfilment of, 284—287; how
interpreted, 304
Prophet, definition of, 218, 270
Prophets, schools of, 218, 219,
233
Prophetic ofilce, nature of, 217;
object of, 218, 233; close of,
252
Prophetism, 33, 254
Proverbs, the ethics of Book of,
322, 323; the family, 325; the
state, 326
Providence, divine, 82—84, 319,
331
Psalms, Elohistic, 68n; the Mes-
sianic, 306, 307; imprecatory,
328
Pul, 235
Punishment, the course of, 141,
142; principleof, 141; corporal,
142; vicarious, 192, 193
Purification, means of, 193; acts
of, 193, 194
Purifications, Levitical, 193,
194
Purim, feast of, 208
Race, unity of, 100
Rechabites, the, 234
Redemption, the future, 298,
350
IXDEX.
299, the restoration ol Israel,
295—298; the reunion of the
twelve tribes, 298; admission
of the heathen, 802—304
Rehoboam, 229, 240
Remnant of Jacob, the, 295,
296
Restoration of Israel , 295—298
Resurrection, doctrine of, 300,
301
Retribution, the Divine, 128,
129, 239; doctrine of, 327,
333
Revelation, biblical idea of, 18,
23; doctrine of, 85; general
and special, 23, 85; historical
progress ol, 24, 25; organs of,
96, 97; and prophecv, 273,
274
Riehm, 31
Righteousness of God, 75; of
man. 111
Ruach, 101; Elohlm, 94, 95
Sabbath, antiquity of, 198;
origin of, 19S; idea of, 199;
celebration of, 200; of new
moon, 201
Sabbatical year, laws concern-
ing, 202; import of, 203
Sahaoth, Jehovah, 254—258
Sacred seasons, times of, 196;
celebration of, 197
Sacrifice, nature of first, 40. 41,
43; Pre-Mosaic, 165; meaning
of, 154, 165; material of, 168
—170; ritual of, 171—174;
atoning, 188—192; passover,
205, 206; prophecies concern-
ing, how interpreted, 304
Salvation, O. T. experience of,
268
Samaritans, origin of, 237; en-
mitv of, 249
Samuel, 216
Sanctuary, arrangement of, 158;
meaning of, 159; utensils of,
160; rooms of, 161
Satan, doctrine of, 40, 260— 262
Saul, reign of, 221
Sargon, 236
Sayce, 38
Schlottman, 32
Schultz, 31
Schools of the prophets, 218
219, 233
Scribes, the, 252
Seasons, see Sacred seasons
Sennacherib, 242 •
Seraphim, 258
Servantof Jehovah, 121, 310
Servants, 151, 152
Sethites, 40- -42
Seven, the number, 197
Sex and race, 99
Shallum, 235
Shalmanezer, 236
Shem, 44
Sheol, O. T. conception of, 114
—116, 324
Shekhina, the, 92, 93
Shewbread, table of, 161
Sin, origin of, 39, 83, 84; God
permits, 83, 84; formal and
material principle of, 106, 107;
O. T. names for, 107, 108; as
an inclination, 108; heredi-
tary, 108, 109; degrees, 109,
110; connection with death,
112; ruinous nature of, 265,
266; guilt of, 266
Sin-offering, 184; ritual of, 185,
186
Sinai, Israel at, 56, 57
Slavery, 151, 152
Sodom and Gomorrah, 44
Solomon, reign of, 225: dark
sides of reign of, 228
Sons of God, 91
Sopherim, 149
Soul, related to bodv and spirit,
101—104; origin of, 113; state
of, after death, 113—116
Spener, 29
Spirit of God, 94-96
Spirit, connection with bodv
and soul, 101— 104
Spirituality of God, 74
State, the, 326
Stier, 32
351
Suffering, four-fold purpose of
humau, 330
Swearing, 155
Synagogue, the great, 252
Synagogues, 248
Systematic Theology, 20, 21
Tabernacle, 158—161; during
the times of the Judges, 213
Tabernacles, feast of, 207, 208
Taxes, the theocratic, 183
Temple, building of the, 225;
significance and dedication of,
226; rebuilding of, 250
Ten commandments, 123; divi-
sion of, 123, 124; how divided
between the two tables, 125
Ten tribes, the kingdom of, 230
—238; captivity of, 236
Tent of testimony, 158—161
Theology of Old Testament,
definition, 17; how related
to other disciplines, 18; sour-
ces, 20; scientific stand-point
of, 22; history of cultivation
of, 26—31; divisions of, 33;
literature of, 30
Tiglath-Pileser, 236
Tithes, 183
Trespass-offering, 184; ritual of,
185
Trial of Abraham, 49
Trichotomy of man, 101, 102
Trinity, doctrine oi, 95 n
Truth of God, 74
Tsaddig, 75
XJnchangeableness of God, 69,
70
Uncleanness, 194
Unity of God, 70, 71
Unity of race, 100
Urim and Thummim, 139, 140
Uzziah, 241
Vegetable offerings, 168, 169
Vicarious atonement, 192, 193
Visions, 96
Voice, divine, 87
Vows, 180: three kinds of, 180,
181
Walsh, 38
Washing-basin, 161
Waving, 179
Weeks, feast of, 207
Wife, 144—147
Wilderness, wanderings in, 55
—58
Wisdom, Old Testament, prov-
ince of, 228, 315; a special
department of knowledge,
315—317; objective principle
of, 318—320; subjective ])rin-
ciple of, 321, 322; an attribute
of God, 318; personified, 318;
controls human affairs, 319,
320
Woman, 144—177
Word of God, in worship, 155
World, creation of, 37, 38, 78,
79; preservation of, 80, 81
Worship, essential character of,
154; place of, 157, acts of, 165;
prophecies, concerning tem-
ple, how interpreted, 304
Xerxes, 251
Yah we, see Jehovah
Zachariah, 235
Zeal of God, 76, 77
Zedekiah, 246
Zephaniah, 244
Zerubbabel, 249
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